


Being a Good Sport

by SquirrelGay



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Eventual Fluff, F/F, Hogwarts Fourth Year, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Slow Burn, fleurmione - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-25
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2020-03-17 01:23:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 38,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18955075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SquirrelGay/pseuds/SquirrelGay
Summary: Fleur arrives to Hogwarts and tries to be as nice as she can while denying her growing crush on a certain gryffindor.





	1. Bouillabaisse

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: the characters belong to J.K. Rowling herself. I'm just using them for my amusement.

As she walked the way from the carriage to the huge castle in front of her, Fleur paid no mind to all the eyes that were surely following her and her peers. She wouldn’t think of the whispers amongst the other students, or the cold creeping in through her thin uniform. She wouldn’t give in to the intrusive thoughts that would make her doubt herself and her reason for being at Hogwarts.

Fleur Delacour was here on a mission, to prove that her school was worthy of respect. If she were to be chosen for the tournament, then she would compete as best she could to lead her school to victory. If anyone else was chosen, well, she only hoped they would be open to receiving her advice.

Some of her classmates were in it for their own selfish reasons, and she wasn’t sure if that was the best approach to have with a competition as deathly as the Triwizard Tournament. Sure, eternal glory was fine and all, but not worth risking their lives so carelessly, not even the money was worth it. No, she wanted to ensure that Beauxbatons could have something to pride on, not that her school was badly seen among the wizard world. It’s just that, well, being as secluded as they were, there wasn’t much to be said about them from other countries. She was sure some of the Hogwarts population were not aware of their existence until the carriage arrived.

Winning the first Triwizard Tournament being held in centuries was sure to make people talk about them, it would make her Headmistress, her teachers, proud. Her family would be delighted if she were to win, and she would be honoured to be the one to represent her school, if they deemed her worthy.

Luck was not on her side, it seemed, she was too preoccupied making sure her sister was warm and comfortable to notice that her laughter was ill-placed. I wasn’t until she heard someone sneer at her that she realized how rude it had been. She schooled her features and listened to the rest of the speech, having already hear it all from Madame Maxime on their way to Scotland.

If she was being honest, she had approached the three lions to get a closer look at “the boy who lived” if only to get it out of the way so it wouldn’t bother her later. She grew up with stories of He Who Must Not Be Named and how a wee little baby boy had escaped the killing curse. It wasn’t what drove her out of France and into the cold embrace of Hogwarts, but it sure was a nice plus to her visit here.

“Excuse me” she said, once she was close enough to the gryffindor group “are you wanting the bouillabaisse?”

She observed all of them, trying to judge their reaction to her thrall. One of them, the redhead, he was clearly affected, mouth open and glassed eyes staring right at her. It irked her to no end, but she was used to it by now. It was the bushy haired girl who scowled at her that kept her attention, Fleur took the time to study her face, trying to commit to memory every freckle, each stray curl of hair and the way the girl scrunched up her nose at her as if she had spilled wine over her pristine uniform. Fleur was intrigued, to say the least.

“You can have it” said the boy with glasses sitting beside the scowling girl, whom she knew to be Harry Potter. He seemed average, and his scar was covered by his dark hair. Fleur took notice of this and sympathized with the boy. If she could do something to hide her veela heritage and avoid all the unwanted attention it got her, she would. Which is why she gave no sign of knowing who the boy was, opting to follow with the conversation.

“You are finished with it?” She was making her accent more prominent, butchering her English a bit, if only to humour the guest students for a while. It was better if they thought she wasn’t good with the language, better to not let them know her strengths until the time was right.

“Yes, it was delicious” said the redheaded boy, still in a daze. Fleur took the food and went back to her sister, letting the trio enjoy the rest of their meal in peace.

“Is it really Harry Potter? He doesn’t look like much” said Gabrielle as soon as Fleur sat down next her. She paused for a moment before she turned to her. “It is him” Fleur said, “but he is just a boy with a lot of bad luck. You must remember that.”

“Got it” Gabrielle said, “it is still awesome though” she said. “Do you think he’ll be bothered if I ask him for an autograph? Could you ask him for me? You have better English” Fleur looked at her sister for a moment, deciding whether to explain to her that Harry’s fame was unwanted. But her sister was still little, her thrall had not developed, and she was oblivious to the feeling of being the centre of attention.

“I’ll ask him later” Fleur said, “we have time” she supposed she could befriend the boy and explain the situation later, she wasn’t about to say no to her sister. “Here, I got your favourite” Fleur gave her sister the bouillabaisse and contemplated about what would expect them at Hogwarts the rest of the year, she only hoped no one would try to murder Harry again, that boy deserved to rest, it was a relief that he wasn’t of age yet, otherwise she’s sure someone would have forced him to compete in the Tournament. She wouldn’t admit it out loud, but she was glad she wouldn’t have to worry about him being competition.


	2. Good Impressions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: all character belong to J.K. herself

Fleur was entering the great hall with some of her classmates when she heard two boys rambling about age potions. It was stupid to think something like that would fool the protection spells casted around the goblet, and she heard as much from a girl who seemed to be scolding them for their plan.

When they got closer to the goblet, Fleur could see it was the same girl who sat next to Harry the night she arrived at Hogwarts, she was sitting with a thick book on her lap, explaining to the boys how their plan would surely fail. They didn’t listen, of course, and it ended with both of them being thrown through the hall and growing grey beards.

The girl was right, Fleur thought. And, while everyone was busy looking at the spectacle the two boys were putting, Fleur quietly slipped from her classmates and approached the girl, hoping to make a good impression.

“Foolish boys” she said, “thinking they could outsmart your Headmaster” she would not look at the girl or she would lose her courage, so the veela settled for looking ahead while sitting next to the gryffindor. She could feel the other girl looking at her, studying her, deciding on whether she was here as a friend or not.

“They never listen to me” the Hogwarts student finally said, “the beards suit them well”

Fleur managed to chuckle at that and look at the girl for a mere second before replying, “Well, they should, listen to you, I mean. You seem to know your way around magic.” She couldn’t see the girl’s reaction to the compliment, she wasn’t prepared to look at her again. For some reason, Fleur felt as if the girl would see right through her and realize that, for all the poise and the flair she pretended to have, she was nervous to be talking to her.

“Thank you” the gryffindor said, and then extended her hand towards Fleur, who had opted for looking at the book the girl was reading instead of her face, “I’m Hermione, Hermione Granger”

Fleur took her hand and kissed it before looking directly at Hermione’s eyes, “Fleur Delacour, it’s a pleasure to meet you”

“Your accent” Hermione said, “you don’t have it now” And Fleur could see it in her chocolate brown eyes, the thought going through the girls mind a mile per minute.

“Yes, well. It is better if they see me as the foreign student who can’t even speak properly.” Fleur explained, “for now, at least, go unnoticed until the tournament begins, wouldn’t want anyone to see me as a threat yet” she smiled at Hermione, hoping the girl would take her word for it and leave it at that.

“That’s… smart, I suppose, if you are only here for the competition.”

Fleur wanted to ask Hermione what she was thinking about, seeing as the girl was looking ahead, lost in thought, but just as she was about to speak, she saw her classmates approaching the goblet, no doubt to put their names in.

As much as she was enjoying talking to Hermione, Fleur wouldn’t like to be left alone with a lot of people she didn’t know. Being with her fellow peers gave her the reassurance of having people that were used to her veela blood, who at least would not gape at her like much of the Hogwarts students did when she was near.

“It was good meeting you, Hermione, I hope we can see each other again” not letting Hermione answer, Fleur stood and didn’t spare a second glance at the girl as she joined her classmates and put her name in the fire, leaving for the carriage immediately after.

—

Fleur saw Hermione around the school after that. But she was either in the library or with her friends, and Fleur was not willing to disturb her reading or to deal with the redheaded boy gaping at her again, so she watched the girl from afar.

The girl, Hermione, spent a lot of time in the library, Fleur watched her as she went from doing her homework to reading just about any book that would have her interest, taking notes on this or that, not minding the ink stains she sometimes got on her hands. It was strange, Fleur thought, she never saw any of her friends with her when she was at the library, maybe they weren’t as studious as her.

Fleur herself couldn’t find the courage to sit next to the brunette yet, instead she watched her from two tables over, pretending to be reading. She was well ahead of her classes and all of her homework had been taken cared of before she came to watch the girl study the day away. She understood the appeal of the library, the quiet and the solitude were things Fleur much appreciated, and she used this as an excuse when her friends started questioning why she only went to the library _after_ she had completed her work.

Of course, she could only fool them for so long, and after coming to visit her at the library they soon came to realize that it wasn’t the books and the solitude Fleur was interested in. They encouraged her to talk to Hermione, volunteering themselves to be her wing-persons.

Her best friend, Roxanne, took great pleasure in watching Fleur trying to hide her interest for the young witch, she was used to seeing people falling at Fleur’s feet and the veela had never shown any interest towards any of them.

 “What is it she has that’s got you all hot and bothered?” Roxanne asked Fleur at the Halloween feast while they ate. Fleur sighed before glancing at the Gryffindor table and then turning towards her friend.

“I am not _hot and bothered_  " replied Fleur, “besides, haven’t you seen her? She is incredibly smart, and kind too, she founded S.P.E.W. in hopes of helping the house elves and she’s always helping those two boys with their homework. She takes advanced classes and is always looking for new things to learn. She is simply wonderful.”

“She is just a girl, Fleur, you talk of her as if she was a goddess”

“She might as well be” Fleur said. She certainly hadn’t hoped to become so invested in the brunette, but every new thing she learned about her drew her in even more. And made her even more scared of approaching the girl. Every opportunity she let pass made her think that Hermione had forgotten all about their encounter when she had put her name in the goblet. She was always chasing some new knowledge, surely Fleur hadn’t made as much of an impression on the young girl as she had on the veela.

She allowed herself a moment to concentrate on what Dumbledore was talking about, eager to find out just who would be selected as champion for the competition. And just like that, Fleur was whisked away along with that famous quidditch player from Durmstrang and the other boy from Hogwarts, on to another room away from everyone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment if you'd like. Tell me what you think.


	3. Too Young

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: characters belong to J.K. "now you're gay" Rowling

“He cannot compete, he is too young” Fleur was still faking an accent in front of the professors that were gathered with them in the small room, hoping to pull off the mad-foreign-champion attitude she was going for so they could maybe let Harry off the hook. It would be more effective if they thought she was angry more than worried for the poor boy.

But nothing worked, Harry had to compete and that was that. And seeing as he saw her protest his place in the tournament it was most likely that Hermione knew about it by now. Which made Fleur feel even worse.

“Relax” said Roxanne when she found her moping inside the carriage.

“Relax?” Fleur parroted back at her, “there is a boy with a death target on his back, and he is being forced to compete in a tournament that he is not prepared for. And in trying to help him I made myself look like a stuck up bitch who thinks poorly of him”

Roxanne only took a seat besides Fleur and looked at her, “but you always look like a stock up bitch to other people, what’s different this time?”

At this, Fleur looked desperately at her friend, “the difference” she explained, “is that I was hoping to spare Hermione this whole _cold bitch_ act and let her know the real me. But now she probably hates me because she thinks I don’t approve of Harry competing” Fleur seemed to deflate in her seat, no doubt thinking of all the lost possibilities she had of getting to know the wonderful witch she had set her eyes on.

“But you don’t approve of Potter competing” said Roxanne, confused.

“Of course not” Fleur said, “But not because I have anything _against_ him, which is what Hermione probably thinks. I just can’t see how all of them can just let this happen, it’s like they don’t care about the safety of their students!”

Roxanne seemed to think this through, trying to come up with something that would improve her friend’s sour mood. After a while, she thought of something and shook Fleur’s shoulder in reassurance.

“Harry will be alright” She stated.

“How can you be so sure?” asked Fleur, wondering where her friend was going with this.

“Well,” Roxanne said, “Hermione is her friend, yes? She won’t let him on his own to die. If she is as bright as you say” Fleur was about to go into different arguments to prove this, but Roxanne didn’t give her the chance to speak before she continued, “which I _believe_ she is, then he is in good hands. I am sure she would do everything she can to help him”

Fleur thought about Roxanne´s words. She was right, if there was anyone close to Harry who could keep him alive, it was The Brightest Witch of her Age herself, as she had heard several students referring to Hermione like that.

“Besides” Roxanne added, once she was sure her friend had calmed down some, “you are going to help him too”

At this, Fleur stared at her smiling friend as if she’d told her she was not veela anymore.

“And how am I supposed to do _that?”_ Fleur asked, “If you didn’t hear my rant, I believe I said that Harry and his friends now believe I do not see him as a worthy wizard. How do you expect I try to help him without him or Hermione thinking I am plotting against him?”

Roxanne just stared at her, as if waiting for Fleur to rant some more. Knowing her friend was finished, she simply said, “You are Fleur Delacour, Daughter of Apolline Delacour and Champion of Beauxbatons. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

Fleur had a thousand arguments in the tip of her tongue as to why none of it would work and Hermione would hate her forever. But they never left her mouth because, at that moment, the carriage doors opened and in came Madam Maxime, looking tired. No doubt she just came back from a long discussion with the other Headmasters and people from the Ministry.

She composed herself some and looked at her two students, her gaze lingering on Fleur.

“Miss Delacour” she said, “from now on I would like you to spend your free time here, training for the first task, do you understand? No more going to the library after classes unless completely necessary” She didn’t give Fleur a chance to answer before she disappeared, most likely going to her chambers to rest.

“Merde” complained the blonde veela, “I won’t even be able to go admire Hermione while she studies anymore” She sank again in her seat while her friend laughed at her misfortune.

“Good” Roxanne said, “you stalking her would have only made her more suspicious of you”

Fleur hit her friend lightly on her arm. She did not _stalk_ the young gryffindor girl. She just liked to watch her for… extended periods of time while not making any sort of approach or attempt to engage her in any way. Because she was _nervous,_ that’s all. Fleur Delacour was _not_ a stalker, she was going to take this competition seriously and she was going to do her best. And she was also going to see that Harry made it out alive. She promised herself that.

—

Weeks passed and she eased into a simple routine of attending her classes, eating, training inside or near the carriage, going to dinner, and then practice some more. She had no reason to go to the library, so she hadn’t seen Hermione outside of the Great Hall, and even then, she did not seek the little lion out, afraid of receiving disapproving looks from her or her friends without having the chance to explain her behaviour.

Roxanne had felt pity for her and had taken the job of going to the library once or twice a week and report back to her about her not-quite-a-crush’s doings. “Yes, Fleur, she still goes there every day.” “No, Fleur, her hair hasn’t changed” “She hexed someone for being too loud next to her” “That Potter boy is there with her sometimes, he looks sad” The only weird thing she had told her was the increasing amount of time a certain Durmstrang boy would spend at the library at times. He was not there to read, Roxanne told her, for she had seen him with the exact same book each and every time he was there, and he hadn’t even changed the page.

Fleur had no time to think about any of this, with the first task closer each day and her constant training, she had to be prepared for anything they might throw at her. She was planning on which charms to practice as she excited her last class for the day when she came across a group of fourth years. Slytherin and Gryffindor, she recognized by the uniforms, not a good combination as she had come to learn.

“But don’t touch my hand, Granger, wouldn’t want a mudblood near me. I just washed my hands”

That boy! How dare her talk to Hermione like that. Fleur was about to step up to the boy and tell him exactly what she thought when she saw Harry drawing his wand. The slytherin boy did the same. Hermione tried to calm his friend down but both boys casted their spells at the same time. Harry’s hit a boy next to the fool who had insulted Hermione, while the Gryffindor girl had been hit by the other one’s spell.

Fleur was not close enough to look at the girl and see what had happened to her, but she saw a professor approaching. She thought he would clear up the situation, but he seemed to find the whole thing amusing, insulting Hermione in the process. What kind of school was this? Fleur thought, to let a professor disrespect the students like that, it was horrible.

She heard a group of slytherins laughing at the poor girl and couldn’t help but cast a little hex in their direction, a group of birds came out of nowhere and chased the students away. Fleur did not stay long enough to be caught, it would not do her well to be put in detention when she was supposed to be practicing. Besides, she had seen Hermione flee the scene and wanted to make sure she was fine.

At some point she lost track of the girl, though, and she could not remember which way the hospital wing was. She sighed and headed outside, towards the carriage. Hoping she could focus enough on her practice and not worry too much about Hermione.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment away if you'd like. Let me know what you think.


	4. Helping Harry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this might come off as a filler episode, maybe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: all character belong to J.K. Rowling

It was a few days later that Madam Maxime told her to wait up for her that night, she had been invited by Hagrid somewhere, that sweet man who took care of their abraxans, and would probably find information that would help them with the first task.

Fleur could not find it in herself to argue with her Headmistress. And so, went to have her breakfast as usual in the Ravenclaw table. She was distracted, however, thinking about how this was the _perfect_ opportunity to help Harry, and probably stop Hermione from glaring at her each time she passed her.

She nodded her head at Roxanne, signalling that she would not be sitting next to her, and then went and sat down next to a girl with platinum blonde hair and radish earrings. She had noticed not a lot of people approached her and found it a waste, the girl seemed kind enough.

“Hello, you are Luna, right?” she asked as she sat down and began to help herself to the food around them. The girl did not look her way, but she answered nonetheless.

“Hi Fleur” Luna said, “do you want a copy of The Quibbler?”

Fleur had no idea what the girl was talking about, but she was afraid to ask. Luckily, she didn’t have to. The girl pulled out a magazine from somewhere and presented it to the veela.

“Oh, thank you” she said, kindly, “I’ll be sure to read it later, when I have the time.” Fleur smiled at the girl and put the magazine in her bag.

“Too busy thinking about Hermione, I see” Luna said, nonchalantly, “it’s okay, let me know if any Beauxbatons students want some the next time you come around”

“Wait, how do you-“ Before Fleur had a chance to ask, she found the younger girl staring right at her, more focused than any other time she had seen her.

“You’re not very subtle” Explained the girl, then she smiled “but don’t worry, she hasn’t noticed. If anything, I think it’s sweet of you, to work yourself up so much about how to approach her”

“Right, thanks.” Fleur made a mental note to speak to the girl more often. Although a little eccentric, she realized now that the girl was a Ravenclaw through and through, even more so than some of the students that tried to approach her when she had first arrived at the school.

“I was wondering” Fleur struggled to find the words for a moment, “I’ve seen you hang out with people from the Gryffindor house, it seems to be that you have friends there, am I right?” seeing as the girl hummed besides her, she continued.

“Do you know any friends of Harry I could talk to? I want to know if he is okay, but I don’t think my questioning would be welcome as we don’t know each other that much”

“Anyone too close to him would be suspicious” Luna said, “unless you went with a friend.” Then she moved her head to the side, as if looking for something. For what, exactly, Fleur had no idea.

“As a matter of fact,” the Ravenclaw told her, “you are just in time, Ginny just left.”

“Who?” Questioned Fleur, she hadn’t seen anyone leaving, too focused on the girl next to her. But nothing seemed to escape the young Ravenclaw.

“Ron’s sister, redhead. Come with me” and with that the girl was up and walking, not waiting for Fleur to follow her.

The quarter-veela gathered her things and followed the blonde girl as subtly as she could. Once they were outside the great hall, she took notice of a redheaded girl not too far ahead. She had managed to catch up with Luna and saw the girl smiling kindly at her before addressing her Gryffindor friend.

“We’re just going to go on a walk near the lake, care to join us, Gin?”

“Why do I have a feeling that this is not good?” asked the redhead, but she followed the pair of girls outside and didn’t say a word until they were far from the castle, away from prying ears.

“How come you’re hanging out with the French girl, now? I thought they only talked to each other” Ginny expressed her doubts to Luna, who only glanced at her before answering.

“She wants to help Harry, but she is shy, and she likes Hermione but don’t tell her.”

“I do not-“ Fleur started, but found it useless, Luna had it all figured out already, she only hoped this Ginny girl would trust her.

“Is it true?” Ginny asked, looking at Fleur now.

“Is what true?” asked Fleur, levelling her gaze with that of the Gryffindor. She couldn’t back down now.

“That you want to help Harry” said Ginny, not breaking eye contact.

“Of course,” Fleur said, “I find it barbaric that they are forcing him to compete.”

“You said he was too young” started the redhead, going for an argument.

“Because _he is_ ” Fleur stated, trying to explain herself to the girl, “he is the Boy Who Lived, for Athena’s sake, he deserves a break from all this death and danger the world is always throwing at him. I’m almost sure his part in the tournament is just another ploy to get him killed and if your professors are not doing anything to help him then I will.” There, she got it all out before anyone could interrupt her, now she only had to hope for the girl to trust her.

Ginny seemed to contemplate her words for a moment. Looking at Luna for a second before it dawned on her. “You were trying to help him, back then,” she finally said, “trying to get him taken out of the tournament so he wouldn’t have to face all of this.” Luna smiled at this, and Fleur released a sigh of relief.

“Yes, thank you for noticing” said the veela.

They had come to stand near a tree on the outskirts of the lake. Luna was the first to sit down in the grass, followed by the other two.

“Now, here’s what I need you to tell Hermione, or Harry, any of them who would listen to you” Fleur said once they had settled. “Do you know Hagrid?”

“Hagrid?” said Ginny, “Oh, totes, he’s a good friend of Harry”

“Great” exclaimed Fleur, this would be easier than she thought, “He needs to go visit Hagrid, tonight”

“Why?” asked Ginny, “What happens tonight?”

“Tonight,” Fleur explained, “Hagrid has asked my Headmistress to come with him, she told me it had something to do with the first task.”

“And why can’t you tell him once she comes back and tells you what it is Hagrid showed her?” said the Gryffindor, “I’m sure she’ll tell you right away if it’s important.”

“Yes, but,” Fleur had thought about that too, however, “I don’t want to risk it. If whatever my Headmistress learns tonight is indeed important, I don’t think she will let me do much besides going to classes and practicing for the first task, can’t imagine I’ll be allowed to talk to anyone, much less Harry or another champion.”

“I see,” Ginny said, but she wasn’t done, “But why not go tell Harry yourself right now, or Hermione?”

“Non, I cannot tell her myself,” Fleur saddened at the thought, “she would think it’s a trap, some way to expose Harry for cheating. It would be better for a friend of theirs to tell them.”

“You really thought this through, didn’t you?” mused the young Weasley, “I’m sorry, Fleur, I guess I judged you wrong, I’ll think of a way to tell ‘Mione about this.”

Fleur perked up at this, happy that Ginny had taken her side. “It’s okay. I usually come off as, how do you say… _bitchy,_ to people” Fleur smiled, and Ginny nodded, “it is better that way, I get enough attention as it is because of my thrall, it would do no good if people thought I was approachable.”

Luna, who had been quietly observing the interaction, grabbed the veela’s hand and squeezed it. “You can come sit by me anytime, Fleur, people tend to leave me alone most of the time, though they seem pretty eager about my things, always hanging them from the ceilings.” Fleur could only nod at this, happy to have made new friends. This tournament was not only about winning, after all.

“Okay then,” said Ginny “I better head back to the castle, now. Make sure Harry shows up to this thing. You coming, Luna?” The blonde ravenclaw did not answer, but she made to stand next to the redhead. After saying their goodbyes, the two Hogwarts students made their way back, while Fleur stayed behind a little longer, basking in the last moments of peace she would have before her Headmistress made her practice even more after whatever happened tonight.

It was not until later, at the Gryffindor common room, that Ginny approached Hermione to tell her that Hagrid was looking for Harry. The bushy haired witch was about to question her friend about this when Ron entered through the portrait and made his way towards them.

“’Mione,” he said, “Hagrid told me he’s looking for Harry, he wants to see him tonight.”

“So?” Asked Hermione, eyeing Ginny suspiciously, “Why don’t you go an tell him then?” She was sick of being treated like an owl between the two fighting friends. If only they weren’t so stubborn, she thought.

“You know I can’t do that” Ron said, “I still can’t believe he’d put his name in the goblet without telling me!”

“Do you really think he did that, Ronald? Seriously, you’re like a couple having an argument!”

Ginny took that as her cue to leave, seeing as Hermione was sure to make Harry see Hagrid after being told by the two Weasleys. She left the pair to argue, something not unusual between them, and headed out to look for her ravenclaw friend. She had been too focused on the _Fleur-actually-wants-to-help-Harry_ part that she hadn’t thought to ask about the whole _Fleur-likes-Hermione_ bit. And she wanted answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi there (!) Leave a comment if you want, tell me what you think.   
> And have a nice day/evening/night


	5. Research

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> so I wrote the thing, but it was too long so here's half of it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: The characters belong to J.K. and I own nothing

—

Dragons! How was she supposed to defeat a dragon? Wonderful, powerful creatures indeed. She had no experience with them whatsoever. Her only relief was to think that Ginny had done her part and Harry knew of them too. But thinking of Harry only made her dread the fact that the boy had to deal with one as well. And no matter how smart Hermione was, she wasn’t going to be there with him when the time came.

Fleur hoped, for everyone’s sake, that there would be some sort of information regarding the fiery creatures in the Hogwarts library.

—

Roxanne backed her up when she went to ask permission to their Headmistress to visit the castle, arguing that Fleur had to get her hands on any information that would be useful to her in order to prepare for the task. And so, the young veela was spared from practice and allowed visit the host school’s library, on the condition that she discussed her findings and strategies with Madam Maxime once she returned.

Fleur was positive her Headmistress knew a thing or two about dragons, but she had broken the rules enough by even letting her know of the task beforehand, so she refrained from asking. Besides, a part of her was hoping to find a certain Gryffindor, it would make her day exponentially better.

When she entered the library, she went straight to the magical creatures’ section, looking for any book about dragons or wyverns that could help, she spotted a few “how to protect yourself in the wild” guides and added them to her growing pile. If anything, she could find a charm to protect herself from the flames.

She had been reading for a couple of hours before she was interrupted by someone coughing softly besides her. Fleur was surprised someone dared to come to her, she had specifically chosen a small table hidden between bookshelves and she had been undisturbed, until now. She pulled her eyes from the book to look at whoever wanted her attention, and then stayed still as she saw her. Hermione, looking as gorgeous as ever, even with bags under her eyes and her hair a little less tamed than usual.

“Yes?” It was all Fleur managed to say as she let herself admire the girl in front of her. She didn’t let her gaze linger for too much on anything, she didn’t want Hermione to catch her staring. The little lion looked as if she wished to be anywhere but here, staying at a respectable distance from the veela while she looked straight at her, then at the books laid amongst the surface of the table.

“Hi. Are you finished with those?” Hermione said.

“Ah, so Harry knows too?” She feigned surprise to mask the relief she felt in knowing that Ginny had managed to convince them to go with Hagrid. Hermione looked scared for a moment, and Fleur found herself staring as the girl blushed. Oh, how she wished to make the girl blush more often, it suited her well.

“What? No, what are you-“it seemed Hermione was trying to come up with an excuse as to why she was researching about dragons, but thought better of it and sighed, before it all made sense in her mind. “I suppose that means you know too, right?”

Instead of answering, Fleur decided to take the chance and say, “come sit, we can share the books.”

The veela waited for Hermione to sit and grab a random book before going back to her reading. She needed to calm her nerves before trying to talk to her again. After a while, she felt calm enough, even if the little lion kept stealing glances at her, as if waiting for her to do something. Fleur hated it, she wanted Hermione to trust her. She had to earn that trust somehow, and just sharing books at the library wouldn’t cut it.

“How is Harry doing?” Fleur found herself asking. She was having enough trouble with the Tournament as it was, she couldn’t imagine what the boy was going through.

“Why do you care?” Replied Hermione, coldly. She seemed tense, as if she expected anyone around her to attack, including the veela. Fleur understood, after all they had gone through together, it was normal for the girl to be protective of her friends.

“I’m just worried about him” Fleur said, “I do not think he was the one who put his name in, he does no look like the kind of person who would enter the tournament.” She hoped her explanation was enough for the Gryffindor, who seemed to relax at the veela’s statement.

“He didn’t put his name in. But a lot of people don’t believe him”

“People believe what they want to believe, even if deep down they know it is not the truth.” Fleur knew this too well, after all, even some of her classmates had claimed that she had used her _‘veela_ _magik_ ’ to get chosen as a champion. As if something like that could happen.

Noting that she still had the girl’s attention, she said, “I am glad you are helping him, though. I have heard much about you and I don’t think he could be in better hands” Hermione was trying to hide her shock at what              Fleur was saying, but the veela had been studying her long enough to notice how her brows furrowed just a little bit more, how she squinted her eyes just so and scrunched her nose in a truly adorable expression.

“It is important to have good friends in times like this, someone you can trust.” Fleur finished off with a shy smile directed at the gryffindor. By Venus, she was having a field day getting to be so close to Hermione, even better if after this they could be on good terms with each other.

“Thanks, Fleur, it’s quite kind of you to say that” it looked like Hermione had gotten over her shock. “I just assumed, y´know, since some folks from your school where wearing the badges and mocking Harry along with Malfoy, that you were-“

“Badges? What badges?” Fleur hadn’t seen any badges, or maybe she had not been paying attention.

“The _Potter Stinks_ badges? You haven’t seen them?” Hermione didn’t bother to try and hide her confusion at this.

“I am afraid not, _chérie_. Madam Maxime has me on a tight schedule training and I don’t have much time left for socializing,” explained the veela. A silence grew between them, Fleur could see how the preconceptions Hermione had of her fell and crumbled to the ground. Good, she though, she might have a chance now. Just then she processed her own words and couldn’t help but go a bit red. She had called Hermione _sweetheart_ , it came so naturally she didn’t even realize. Oh gods, what of Hermione picked up on it and thought it was weird? Non, maybe she chalked it up to French customs, yeah, she probably did that.

But what if she didn’t? the silence had gone on for too long, Fleur needed to say something, anything. “But this badges you speak of, they sound awful. I cannot speak for the actions of my classmates, but I assure you no one respectable would fall into such _childish_ ways of mockery” Yes, good. She needed to keep the conversation flowing. The badges _did_ sound awful, and to think Hermione had thought she supported this.

“You’re right about that.” Hermione said with a smile, “Most of the slytherins are wearing them, but they’re always finding new ways to make fun of us. We’re used to it by now. It’s the other houses that bother him the most. Harry even saw Ron wearing one the other day! What kind of friend does that? I get that he’s mad but they should just-“ Hermione stopped herself from continuing, almost as if she hadn’t meant to say all of that.

“This Ron person, he doesn’t sound like much of a friend” The name sounded familiar to Fleur, for some reason.

“He can be a bit of a git sometimes. Doesn’t even believe Harry about not putting his name in the goblet of fire.” Explained Hermione, she had her arms crossed now, a pout adorning her face, yet her eyes were sad. And seeing her sad made Fleur sad.

“Well, what is it with this _friend_ of yours?” Fleur made no attempt to soften the tone of her voice, “can’t even trust his own friends, really” and yet, Fleur felt bad looking at Hermione, she seemed truly hurt that this person would not believe her or Harry.

With a sigh, she dared to extend a hand over the table, and invitation of sorts, “I am sure that this… Ron, if he is truly a friend, he will come around, _oui_?”

The little lion smiled at her and took her hand. Fleur thought she would let go but Hermione kept her hand there. The veela counted this as a win. They stayed like this for some time, enjoying the silence. If it weren’t for the fact that looking into those beautiful brown eyes calmed her fluttering heart, Fleur was sure she would have collapsed on the ground by now. She was holding hands with _Hermione_ of all people.

It wasn’t until there were sounds of footsteps nearby that both girls remembered what they were supposed to be doing and returned to their respective books. Fleur missed the warmth of Hermione’s hand immediately, she couldn’t help but think of a future when hand holding became second nature to them, like breathing, that they would just do it without thinking. She was too busy daydreaming that she failed to notice the figure that was closing in on them, approaching their table with heavy, yet hesitant, footsteps.

“Hermione” At least, that’s what Fleur thought he had said. She recognized the owner of the voice in an instant.

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya(!) I just wanted to thank you all for the kudos and the comments, really brightens up my day.  
> I also wanted to come clean and tell you that I started this story with no idea of how it was gonna be but I'll be damned if I don't see to it that it is finished and makes at least some sense.  
> So there's that.  
> Thank you for reading and commenting and exisitng.  
> Have a nice day/evening/night


	6. Research Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: characters belong to J.K. Rowling

—

“Viktor, what a coincidence, are you done with the book I lent you?” Hermione seemed to brighten, and she smiled kindly at the _boy_ who was standing still besides her side of the table. Fleur’s heart broke a little at this

“I am having trouble understanding some things. I am listing everything I find odd as I go, maybe one day I could ask you about it?” For all the fame Viktor had, he looked as if Hermione’s attention was too much for him. His accent was more pronounced than the other times Fleur had heard him speak. Maybe he was nervous.

“Sure thing,” replied Hermione.

No one was saying anything, but Viktor was still there. Why is he still here? Fleur thought, was he waiting for her to go? She was _not_ going to let Hermione alone with him now. Fleur was thinking of any sarcastic and hurtful thing she could say to make the Durmstrang champion leave but refrained from doing so. After all, Hermione seemed to like him, and she was only starting to like Fleur again, she could not mess it up again so soon.

She didn’t hate Viktor as a person, really, he was nice. And strong-willed, one of the few persons who hadn’t been visibly affected by her thrall, not even the first time they met.

“Is there something else you need?” Hermione asked, kindly.

The veela repeated in her mind ‘please say no, please say no’ while pretending to be engrossed in her own book. But she caught Viktor stealing a glance in her direction and couldn’t help but cheer at the slight panic that flashed through his eyes. Her demeanour might have been calm, but her eyes betrayed her.

Viktor took a step back and said, in a rush, “No, that would be all. See you later” He quickly made his way to the exit after that.

“Uh, weird” whispered Hermione, before turning her attention back to Fleur.

Fleur, who was trying to make it look like she hadn’t even noticed that anything had happened. ‘Don’t ask. Don’t ask. Don’t ask.” She told herself. But her curiosity got the better of her.

“So, are you helping Viktor with his studies?” She tried to sound as uninterested as she could.

“Not quite,” said the Gryffindor, “We were talking the other day and..”

Oh. So they _talked_ now, what a great thing to know, what else would they do when Fleur wasn’t around? But that was her insecurity speaking, she needed to focus, Hermione was talking to her.

“… turns out there ain’t a lot of muggleborns in his school. And he was thrilled when I told him both my parents were dentists, wanted to know more about what it was like to live without magic. So, I gave him a copy of ‘ _Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles’_ ” Hermione shrugged, as if it was no big deal, but it looked forced.

“That’s… interesting” Fleur couldn’t decide between focusing on overanalysing everything Hermione said about Viktor or rejoicing in the fact that she had more topics to discuss with the girl now.

“What’s interesting?” Asked Hermione.

“That your parents are dentists.” She didn’t think much of what she said, or how she said it, her mind was elsewhere. But when her companion remained quiet, Fleur thought more about what was happening. And, damn, that made it sound like Fleur had an _opinion_ about it, about muggleborn wizards. She had learned about how some English wizards were still valuing the ‘ _pureness_ ’ of their blood when they made her take a class on foreign customs before she came here. She should have known better.

She chanced a look at her little lion and, sure enough, she was frowning at her, and her pose was guarded. Fleur needed to think of something fast, she needed to explain herself. She cleared her throat and started talking. “When I was little, my father told us about these _dentists,_ humans that took your teeth and drugged you so they could poke your mouth while you were unconscious. I had nightmares about them for years. Then when I was eight, he took me to one so I could see them for myself. And I… “Fleur blushed at the memory, but the embarrassment was worth it if she could clear this up with Hermione, “I was crying all the way there and would not let go of his hand. When the dentist came to greet us, my knees were shaking, and I was so scared that I… ran.”

“You _what_?” Hermione was not frowning at Fleur anymore, but she wouldn’t stop staring at her. Somehow, Fleur found her voice to continue.

“I ran out of the building and then some more, until I found a park three blocks from there and hid between the bushes. My father came looking for me and promised to stand guard so the dentist wouldn’t rob my teeth. I was still scared, but I managed.” Fleur found herself smiling, the dentist had given a lollipop after all that, and she said she could take as many as she wanted if she promised to not run away again.

“Fleur, what are you trying to tell me?” Hermione looked truly confused, but she looked so cute like that.

“Hermione” the veela levelled her gaze with the brunette, “My dad’s a muggleborn, veelas don’t really care for that sort of thing. I am sorry if I said something that made you think otherwise”

Hermione was quiet for a while, and when she looked at the veela again, it was as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. “So,” she was sporting a playful smirk now, “If I ever take you to meet my parents, you promise not to run away, or should I learn how to enchant locks?”

Clever little witch she was, returning the light atmosphere by saying a joke at her expense. But Fleur was too busy blushing to laugh, “shut up” she said, but managed to smile at Hermione, who was showing her a toothy grin. And, by Hera, Fleur was _not_ going to think about the fact that Hermione just implied that there would be a reason for Fleur to meet her parents. Not right now, at least.

—

After some time spent in companionable silence, Hermione quietly asked, “so, you got anything that might help?”

Fleur looked at the girl, and she quietly prided herself in the fact that she had done _something_ for the Gryffindor the think she knew what she was doing. “Non,” the French girl said, “besides from a couple of fireproof charms, I can’t find anything helpful about dealing with dragons that does not involve hurting them in any way” She added with a disapproving tone. It was incredible how many guides she had found about hunting and killing these creatures.

Fleur made quick work of copying her notes and passing them over to Hermione.

“Thanks” the girl said, “so you are not looking to hurt the dragon? what if they ask you to kill it?”

“Then I shall find a way around it” said Fleur, “being a quarter veela, I grew up having a soft spot for magical creatures.” Not mentioning the fact that she didn’t want to hurt an innocent creature. “Even though I don’t think they’ll want us to, how would they put it, _damage_ the creatures. Dragons are magnificent beings, and very expensive as well.”

Something seemed to click in the brunette’s mind. But she refrained from commenting on it. Instead she went on to continue skimming through the book she had in her hands. “I just don’t know what I can do to help Harry on this” she admitted after a while.

“If I were you” Fleur commented, “perhaps I would work with his strengths. Keep it close to what he knows but focusing on a way to keep him alive. Either a disguise or a way to avoid the flames, if you are thinking about a fight or flight scenario”

“Flight…” whispered Hermione, and then she got this faraway look, as if she was looking ahead into different outcomes. “That could work” she said, a little bit louder. And stood up, gathering her things and slipping the parchment Fleur had given her between some of her books.

“Thank, Fleur,” she said after moving closer to the veela. Fleur could count the freckles in her pretty face if she had the time. “It was nice talking to you again” It was nice not being on Hermione’s bad side again, thought Fleur. She felt her cheeks heating up and averted her gaze from her little lion.

“Yes, well, it was nice talking to you to” Fleur managed to say, “it would be good to do this again, after the task is over.”

“Yeah, I think I’d like that” Fleur would make sure to keep herself alive, if only to see that smile again, “I hope you figure something out soon. I’d offer to stay but I need to get harry so he can start practicing. Pretty sure he fell asleep somewhere, he hasn’t been sleeping well at night, with the tournament and all that.”

Hmm, that gave fleur something to think about. “Don’t worry,” she said, “go help your friend, I’m sure I’ll come up with something”

And with that, Hermione bid her goodbye. And Fleur proceeded to return the books on dragons, only to look between the bookshelves for a sleep-inducing spell powerful enough for what she had in mind.

Coming to the library had sure helped her. In many different ways.

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go, I hope you like it.  
> I'm still figuring out how to write the first task and might not post an update until next week because I have to work and stuff.  
> Let me know what you think in the comments and thank you, for existing.  
> Have a good day/evening/night


	7. First Task

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> finally, Fleur finds her courage, or something

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I'm just borrowing them for a while

—

The day of the task Fleur found herself sitting next to Luna at the Ravenclaw table, unable to deal with the gossip from the students around them and the high level of expectation that was directed partially at her, especially so from other Beauxbatons students.

She didn’t have much of an appetite, and instead watched as Luna gave Gabrielle some weird glasses, telling her about _wrackspurts,_ whatever those were. It had been a good call to befriend the girl, she got along with her sister and could always feel when Fleur was distracted and needed her time. And people passing by them where too distracted by her thrall to gossip about ‘Loony Luna’ or any other awful name they called her.

Roxanne went to join them after a while, claiming to be tired of all the other students trying to get her to tell them something about the task or Fleur. As if she would give in to their questioning.

“Eat something” said Roxanne, seeing how Fleur had barely touched any food. “You’ll die if you don’t get enough energy for later”

Her friend was worried about her, Fleur knew this. So, she tiredly served herself food while trying not to think of what may be of her later. Of all of them.

“You’ll be fine” her friend assured her, “You’ve been practicing nonstop and I think even Madam Maxime is confident that you’ll ace this.” It was true, her Headmistress looked rather happy this morning, she was chatting away with a few professors over breakfast.

Fleur managed to smile at that, it was good to know that some people had faith in her, even if she herself was doubtful.

“But,” her friend added, “if you’re still not convinced. I could ask _Hermione_ to give you a kiss for good luck if you want.”

“You will _not_ do such a thing, Rox. I am fine” Fleur was glaring daggers at her friend, but it wasn’t as effective when her face was red as a tomato.

“I’ll take notes of anything Hermione says about you during the task.” Added Luna.

“Thanks, Luna. That would be nice.” She managed not to blush too much at that, she wondered what Hermione would think of her performance, was she worried about her? She looked at the Gryffindor table and tried to look for a brunette bushy mane. She finally found her, sitting next to Harry, it looked like she too was trying to get her friend to eat, though her approach seemed harsher than the one Roxanne had pulled on her.

Maybe she felt she was being watched, for at that moment Hermione looked straight at her, and smiled. Fleur smiled back at her and went back to eating what she could, feeling better. This was good, Fleur thought, she had friends. And she was prepared. She would be alright. She just hoped everyone else was, too.

—

After breakfast, she went to the carriage to get changed, they had given them some official outfit to wear for the task. Hers was blue, like her school uniform. But she suspected that they were not fireproof, Dumbledore either didn’t care about the student’s safety or he was overly confident in them. But this was what she got herself into, people died in this tournament, she hadn’t expected it to be safe.

Madam Maxime led her to the tent where they would tell them what the task was about. Fleur was sure every champion knew by now that they would be facing dragons, but the specifics were not clear yet. She just hoped they wouldn’t be asked to purposely harm the creatures.

Harry was looking pale as a sheet of paper, she wanted to go comfort him, but she was feeling rather ill herself, Krum was by himself in a corner and Cedric was practicing wand movements. She focused on her breathing to try and calm down. Then she saw Harry with his face pressed against the side of the tent, talking. Who was he talking to? They weren’t allowed to have any visitors here, at least that’s what they told her, otherwise she would be hugging her little sister by now.

Suddenly, there she was. Hermione, hugging Harry, as if her life depended on it, nor even sparing a glance at her direction. Surely, they were no best friends or anything, but they were on good terms, right? Then there was a flash, that reporter woman, how long had she been here? Well, she didn’t stay for long, Krum sent her away.

This was not the moment to be jealous. Hermione came to check on Harry because they were good friends, and nothing else. She needed to keep her focus on the task ahead, she had no time to let such poisonous thoughts throw her off.

Finally, they were going to tell them what the task was about, and Hermione was asked to leave. Fleur thought she saw Hermione looking at her before she left the tent, but it could have been hopeful imagination. She needed to focus on what the man was saying anyway. She needed to grab something from the bag, right. Easy enough, she felt a lot better with the presence of her Headmistress right beside her, as she pulled a tiny green lizard from the bag it became all too real suddenly. This was her dragon, this is what she was up against.

She was worried about herself, yes, but Harry’s dragon looked like it could use any of them as a toothpick. When Diggory was sent out to face his dragon, without her headmistress around, she chose to sit next to Harry. Not talking, she couldn’t think of anything to say that would lift any of their spirits, they just sat together while they listened to anything that would be happening outside, waiting for their turn. When she knew it wouldn’t be long before she had to face her dragon, she took Harry’s hand, he turned to look at her, and she tried her best to put on a brave face and give him the best smile she could muster, hopefully that was enough.

—

She had survived, somehow. Fleur couldn’t remember exactly what she’d done. But she had the egg, and she was safe at the infirmary they’d put up in a tent near the arena. Her sister had come to check on her not long after she arrived. She was so happy to see her, Fleur was still trying to process the whole thing, so she let her sister talk away. Apparently, her spell had worked, and it wasn’t until she was about to leave that the dragon snored and sent a puff of fire in her direction.

She couldn’t tell how much time had passed by the time Roxanne came around, she had stayed to watch everyone, and answered Fleur’s unspoken questions. Yes, everyone was alive, no one got harmed badly. Fleur was saddened by the thought of Krum breaking the rest of the eggs, but other than that things seemed to have gone well. She was glad she wasn’t there to see Harry perform, by the way Rox told it, it sounded like people were on the edge of their seats the whole time. And for the dragon to come loose of the restraints, well, she was disappointed but not surprised, given how much care had been shown to anyone’s safety so far. Not even the rest of the audience was safe, it seemed. Fleur held her sister just a little tighter.

—

Fleur found herself alone at the tent, thinking about everything that had happened. Roxanne had taken her sister away so they could talk with Madame Maxine, Gabrielle wanted to know if they could keep the small dragon they had given Fleur, and if she could name her. A dragon, she had just faced a dragon and survived. And it was only the first task. Her Headmistress had come to congratulate her and tell her that she would give her some time to rest before starting to practice again. There was a visit to Hogsmeade this weekend and she could go, so long as she wanted to.

She was going to have to write a letter to her parents about this. They had sent her a letter the night before wishing her good luck. Maybe her mother could help her with the egg, she would send her a sketch of it along with the letter.

There was some rustling to her right and then Hermione was by the side of her bed. She looked as beautiful as ever. Fleur just stayed quietly looking at her, wondering what the girl wanted to do with her when she could be looking after Harry. Hermione moved a fraction of an inch closer to her, Fleur thought she was going for a hug, but she stopped herself and instead started talking.

“Ron’s not being an ass anymore and he’s with Harry right now” was the first thing she said. It took a while for fleur to catch on to what she was talking about.

“That’s… good, I take it?” She watched Hermione for a reaction and seeing as the girl looked as though a weigh had been lifted off her shoulders, she guessed she was right, “Great.”

“Yes, quite great actually. Means I’ll finally have some time alone at the library now.” She talked, but it didn’t seem like it was what she wanted to say. Maybe she was stalling? Fleur couldn’t tell.

“That sounds marvellous, really.” Fleur said, and she meant it. More Hermione alone in the library meant she had more chances of striking up a conversation with the girl. She smiled a toothy smile at her little lion, which she returned in kind.

“Anyway, I-“ Hermione seemed to recompose herself, “I was wondering, are you okay? Not that you would be in any danger or anything. You were marvellous, that sleeping spell was… wow.”

Fleur tried not to blush at this but failed. She was used to people complimenting her looks, even her personality. But not a lot of people could sound as excited about a spell she had done as Hermione here.

“Thank you,” Fleur managed to say, “I am doing well, it’s just some burnt clothing.”

Hermione sighed in relief. “I’m really glad you’re okay”

“As I am” Fleur said, giggling. This was fun. This shy, complimenting Hermione she was getting to know now. “How is Harry. I heard what you had him do. You made him call his broom all the way to the arena? I’m sure it was a good show.”

“Yes, well. I worked with his strengths, like you said.” Said the Gryffindor.

“Brilliant.” Said Fleur, “I wouldn’t have thought of anything better”

It was Hermione’s turn to blush now. And she was positively radiant. Fleur would give anything to have more alone time with the girl. No one to interrupt them. Just then, an idea came to mind. It was dangerous, but she had _just_ faced a dragon so, it was worth the shot.

“Hermione” She called, making sure she had the girl’s attention.

“Yes?” She was looking at Fleur fully now, with her brown eyes filled with wonder.

“Well, ah, I was thinking-“ Fleur started loosing her bravado, which was no good. She needed to go through with this or who knows when she might get another chance.

“There is a visit to the, what’s the name? Hogsmeade? This weekend and the Madam is letting me go as a prize for the job well done. I was thinking if maybe you would like to go with me?”

Hermione froze for a second. And for a second Fleur thought she had ruined everything. That is, until the brightest smile she had seen from the young witch was directed at her.

“Hogsmeade? With you? I would love to.” Hermione could not stop smiling. And Fleur felt as if she was watching the sun for the first time.

Hermione went to hug her quickly. Then kissed Fleur’s cheek before she left. “I’ll see you around, then.” And with that she was gone.

Perhaps, Fleur thought, she had not survived the dragon at all, and this was her heaven. But no, this was all very real, and this day could not had been any better.

It was some time later that Gabrielle came back with the news that they could indeed keep the miniature dragon. Only to find her sister with a hand on her cheek, a light blush and still staring at the opening in the tent that Hermione had left through.

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's that? a date? What do you think?  
> Let me know in the comments if you liked it.  
> And thank you for all the kudos, really, it keeps me writing.


	8. Be Brave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “But what if she doesn’t like me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya there (!) thank you for waiting, I hope you like this.  
> Characters are not mine, btw.

—

“Do you think she’s coming?”

“Yes, Fleur, for the last time, I’m sure she will be here.” Roxanne stayed next to Fleur as they both waited at the gates of the castle. The quarter veela was as nervous as ever and was attracting some weird stares from other students.

“But when is she coming?” Fleur asked, maybe Hermione had forgotten they were supposed to meet there. But she had made sure that she passed the details on to her during the week when she found her alone in the library.

Or maybe, Fleur thought, maybe she had been too distracted because Hermione had her hair up in a ponytail and it looked _so pretty_ that she had skipped the details of their going to Hogsmeade. Oh no, what if she was waiting for Fleur somewhere else, alone, in the cold? That would be disastrous.

“Relax, you’re so jumpy, and we got here half an hour earlier. I’m sure she’s on her way here right now.” If Roxanne hadn’t been a good friend and waited with her, Fleur was sure she could have gone up in flames with anxiousness.

“Right, yes. Relax. I can do that.” But could she? If she was being honest with herself, Fleur had no experience when it came to other people. Most of the time they were affected by her thrall, or judged her before meeting her, so she didn’t bother with ‘hanging out’ and that sort of things. And she had known Rox since she was little, so she was a bit inexperienced at this.

“But what if she doesn’t like me?”

At this, Roxanne closed the book she was reading and stared at Fleur right in the eye. “Remember what Luna told you about when you faced the dragon? Hermione was-“

“-sitting on the edge of her seat the whole time. Hiding a gasp when the flames got to me. Cheering with everyone else, but it was plain as day she was trying to mask her excitement.” Fleur had repeated the statement in her mind like a mantra after the Ravenclaw had told her the day after the task at breakfast. It made her confident.

“But that only means she doesn’t want to see me dead. Just like- like I don’t want to see Harry dead!” Fleur was about to go on a spiral, she had her eyes wide open as a million assumptions came to mind. “What if she sees me as she sees him? Like a friend? Although that would be nice, I guess, just being near her is like standing near a goddess.” She sure was jumpy, going from one topic to the other with no real destination.

“And do you know her parents are dentists? Dentists! Like the ones my father told stories about, I can’t imagine the mockery from my mother if we ever-“At this Fleur got suddenly quiet, her rambling continuing only in her head.

“if you ever what, Fleur?” Roxanne was curious about where her friend’s musings had gotten her. It was always fun chatting with the veela, as one sided as it sometimes was. Rox liked to see how far Fleur would go if given free reign. The veela blushed and looked away.

“If we ever date, you know, could you imagine?” Fleurs nervousness had given way to shyness, and she took to playing with the long sleeves of the sweater she was sporting. It was getting colder by the day, as if it hadn’t been cold before.

“What? Of course I can imagine that, this is a date, isn’t it? That´s why you’re so nervous” Fleur didn’t answer, only cowered before her friend’s studying gaze, taking a step back.

“Ah, well, you see, about that, I never-“ There was a thump, as the book Rox had held not moments ago hit the floor, Fleur tried not to look at her friend, but she could still feel her staring.

“Fleur. Isabelle. Delacour.” Even if Fleur was taller than her friend, she seemed smaller by the second, “Do you mean to tell that you’ve been pinning over this girl since we got to this _bloody_ school. And by now you have not only faced a dragon but also managed to ask her out. And you didn’t think to specify to her if it was a date or not?” Rox spoke calmly, coldly in a way, quiet enough so prying ears wouldn’t hear them.

“I was just thinking about how nice it would be to spend time with her!” Fleur defended herself, “I didn’t want to make her nervous by imposing my romantic ideals on to her.”

Rox brought a hand to her face while she looked at her mess of a friend. “Fleur, Fleur, Fleur, you’re like a sister to me, you know that? Gabrielle too.” Fleur let her guard down and nodded while she stood closer to her friend. “And it is my duty to let you know when you’re being too much of an overthinking, love-sick fool.” Fleur nodded again, less animatedly this time.

“I love how you’re giving her space to figure her feelings out and all that. But you must be brave now and then. At this rate we could end the school year and she won’t even know you like her!”

“But what if-“

“Hermione is not the type to stop talking to people just because they have feelings for her. You’re already friends, even if she rejected you, you would still be friends. And she appreciates bravery, you know. It’s her house, after all.” Both Beauxbatons students turned in time to see none other than Luna Lovegood standing calmly besides them, skimming through the book Rox had dropped. Somehow, they hadn’t noticed her before that.

Instead of questioning her about her ways of sneaking up on people, Fleur decided to address what the blonde girl had stated. “You really think she wouldn’t hate me if I told her?” Fleur was hopeful, to say the least.

“I’m positive.” Luna smiled at the veela before getting a faraway look in her eyes. “Why don’t you ask her yourself?”

Fleur turned to where her friend was looking at and saw Hermione approaching, she was wearing jeans and a burgundy sweater along with a Gryffindor scarf and beanie. This was it, Fleur thought, even if she felt like puking and running away, she stood her ground and tried not to sound too nervous when she greeted the little lion.

“Hi, Fleur” the girl said, “I hope I didn’t make you wait.”

“Of course not,” Fleur answered, sounding calmer than she felt, “I only just got here” she could hear Rox coughing in the background, clearly trying not to laugh, but chose to ignore it.

“Wonderful, ready to go?” Hermione looked at her expectantly.

“Yes, please, lead the way.” And with that they started their way to Hogsmeade.

Fleur turned back only once, to see her friends showing support. Luna was giving her a thumbs up and Rox was, well, she was surely threatening her, if Fleur read her gestures right, no doubt trying to get Fleur to be brave. But she was brave, alright, there was just something about Hermione Granger that made her knees weak. But she could do this, Fleur thought, she had to do this.

—

The not-date was going well so far. Fleur had managed not to make a fool of herself in front of Hermione, and she was having fun. They had gone to Honeydukes first, since Fleur had promised to bring back some sweets for her sister. And after that Hermione lead her through the main street pointing out each store and what could be found inside.

“-and that´s Dervish and Banges, if you want a musical instrument, that’s the place.”

“I will keep that in mind.” Fleur couldn’t get enough of this, spending time with Hermione, just the two of them. And everyone else who was visiting, of course, but most of them paid them no mind.

“Do you play anything?” The Gryffindor asked.

“Non, but my sister could find something to entertain herself, she’s been having a frightening amount of free time. I’m not sure Ladie can stand it much longer.”

“Ladie?” Asked Hermione, curious.

“The dragon,” The brunette was not following, and it made Fleur laugh, the look of confusion in the younger girl’s face was too adorable not to. “pardon, it’s the miniature dragon they gave me on the first task. Gabrielle was adamant to keep her.”

“And she named her Ladie?” The girl was smiling now, an easy smile that made her face brighter.

“Yes, after Ladon, the dragon who guards the golden apples, I assume you know the myth?”

“Yeah, I was pretty into Greek mythology before coming to Hogwarts. I know my myths.” There was a smugness in the way she said it, but it wasn’t as if the girl was boasting, more like she was proud of herself for knowing what Fleur was talking about. The veela was smitten, to say the least.

“I see,” Fleur said, and took her time observing the girl and enjoying the time they were spending together. “Anyway, my sister, she made this makeshift garden, even went as far and turning real apples golden and shrinking them to go along with it. It’s quite cute, actually.”

“Sounds like she has a lot of free time, indeed, must be quite the view.” There was a twinkle in the Gryffindors eyes, along with her smirk, that pulled Fleur ever closer.

“You can come see it if you want, you are welcome at the carriage any time you wish. I’d love to have you there, show you around.” Fleur tucked her hair behind her ear, she felt warm all of a sudden.

“Count me in, I’d love to visit.” Was it Fleur, or was Hermione acting different? She seemed more reserved, but at the same time more open than the time they’d spent together at the library. Maybe it was the place, or maybe it was something else. Fleur tried not to get her hopes up, but she couldn’t help but wonder.

“Perhaps-“ just as she was about to suggest they went somewhere more private, _someone_ decided it was okay to interrupt her not-date by whistling at her and yelling quite inappropriate things. The nerve! Seriously, men. I seemed as if the excuse-of-a-wizard had gathered some friends around, and Fleur didn’t want to cause a scene. She spotted the first decent place she could find and dragged Hermione along, making sure to not look at where the ‘compliments’ were coming from.

“Tea, Hermione?”

“Uh, Fleur I-“ But she didn’t give her time to answer, too preoccupied with getting away from the men that only saw what they wanted to see, she was only seventeen years old for Artemis’ sake, couldn’t they have some self-control? She continued into the tea-place, taking a sit in the far end corner of the room. Hermione took the only other chair in the table.

“I am truly sorry, you must understand, I can’t control this. It is better if we wait them out in here.” She looked pleadingly at Hermione, hoping she would understand. She was rewarded with the kindest eyes she had come to know and love.

“It’s alright Fleur, I don’t mind. We can have tea while we’re here” It was Hermione who initiated contact this time, taking Fleurs hand that was over the table. She only let go when a waitress came to take their orders. After their tea was served, and Fleur had visibly calmed down, she spoke again.

“What I was going to say before we got here, not that I mind by the way. Was that I’d never been in here before.” Hermione sipped her tea, “But the tea is quite good, I must say.”

“Wait, you know everything about this place” Fleur started, “and you’re English” she smiled as Hermione rolled her eyes, “so, how come you’ve never been here before?”

“Well” she said, “this is more of a,” a light blush covered her cheeks, “a hotspot for couples so, y’know.”

“That’s wonderful!” Fleur said, a little too cheerful, she got some weird stares from the other patrons at the tables near them. This made Hermione blush even further, and she hunched over the table while she spoke to Fleur.

“How, exactly, is it wonderful?” she questioned.

“Well, you see,” Fleur couldn’t mask her contentment, “people who are already infatuated with someone are less likely to be affected by my thrall. So, we don’t have to worry about anyone coming on to me here, I would hope.”

“Oh” did Hermione sound disappointed? Fleur couldn’t tell. “That’s really nice, you got this thrall thing figured out, don’t you?”

“Well, I have to.” Fleur said, “it is part of me, after all. Even before it was active, my mother had already explained the hardships of being veela.” It seemed like Hermione wanted to console her, but Fleur didn’t let her, she had come to terms with it now. “It is okay, it has its perks too. I am more connected to my magical blood than most wizards, I can almost feel it tingling right beneath my skin.” She extended her hand between them while she said it, and for a moment there were blue sparkles coming from her fingertips. “I know you can feel it too, Hermione,” Fleur turned her attention to the girl, who was clinging at her every word. “No one as good as you could ignore it.”

The Gryffindor seemed troubled for a moment, “I though everyone felt it, you mean it isn’t like that for all wizards?” There it was, the never-ending search for knowledge. Fleur envied her for that, it reminded her of when she was young and full of wonder. Before she discovered what the world was like. She wasn’t sure how it was that Hermione kept being like this after everything she’d gone through.

 

“Non,” explained Fleur, “wizards, how do I say this… they have forgotten where magic comes from, they take it for granted, and through the years it’s become as common to them as eating, so it is no wonder that they need a wand to perform magic. Some of their spiritual paths are closed. Only great wizards and witches can truly appreciate magic for what it is, and that grants them power beyond what a wand can bring, no matter how loyal.” Now she was quoting her grandmother from one of the many summers she spent visiting the veela in France, hidden from the world, learning about her ancestors.

“And you, you can feel it too, how?”

Fleur smiled at this, remembering what her mother used to say “I was lucky to be born a veela. Or, part veela, anyway. Magical creatures, we do not forget. We keep in touch with the magic around us, we give back what we take, and we honour our blood.” If she could take a picture of Hermione right there, she would. Oh, how she wanted to spend hours retelling old stories about her kind, surely, they teached none of that at Hogwarts. Not even Beauxbatons’ curriculum was as extensive.

“And that,” Fleur spoke in a tone that brought them back to the present, “Is why dragons, or elves, have no need for wands, Hermione.”

“Woah” The girl whispered. And Fleur had never felt so heard outside of her circle of close acquaintances. It was new, but she could get used to sharing what she’d learned over the years, if her audience was Hermione alone.

The moment was broken when someone came to take away their tea cups. Where had the time gone? Fleur made sure to look out the window and make sure the horrible men where gone before standing up and offering her hand to Hermione. “Come,” she said, “The tea is my treat, I was the one who dragged you here anyway.” She smiled kindly at the girl and cheered in her mind when she didn’t hesitate to take the veela’s hand.

“Okay,” Hermione said, “I’ll let you pay, on one condition.”

“And what is that?” Fleur asked.

“You let me pay the next time.” And then she smiled at Fleur and how could she say no to that smile?

“Seems fair to me” she said. This is great! Fleur thought, glad that Hermione was implying there _would_ be a next time.

It was colder when they stepped outside, and Fleur couldn’t help but shiver. She was about to cast a warming spell on herself when she felt something being drapped around her neck. I was a scarf. More specifically, Hermione’s.

“Here,” the little lion said, “it’s enchanted, I made it so it’ll keep you warm.”

Fleur blushed at the attentiveness and thanked the girl for her kindness.

“It’s no trouble, you can keep it if you want” said Hermione nonchalantly, before smirking at the veela. “Now, have you tried Butterbeer yet?”

The veela shook her hear ‘no’ and was immediately dragged by the girl into another building, she let herself be led by the girl, eager to continue their _not_ -date. Which, if Fleur said so herself, looked very much like a date to her.

—

“And then she gave me her scarf, isn’t it romantic?” Fleur sighed, again. After coming back to the carriage, she had found Rox waiting for her and had promptly retold everything that had happened while she was out with Hermione.

“Yes, and then you talked for the rest of the evening and she walked you here. It’s the third time you tell me.” Rox sounded bored, but she was truly happy for her friend. It was a nice change to see the veela so relaxed.

“I can’t wait to see her again, I invited her here, to see the carriage.” Fleur said, as Ladie made her presence known by climbing on her shoulder. She caressed the small lizard’s back with her finger.

“That’s wonderful” Roxanne said, “maybe you could invite her to the ball.”

Fleur stopped in her tracks and looked at her friend, who sensed the change in her friend’s behaviour and looked up from the homework she was doing.

“The Ball?” Fleur asked, “What Ball?”

—

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There it is, the 'date', did you like it?  
> I am sorry it took a while to update, I got caught up with work and school and, sighs.  
> Let me know what you think in the comments, thank you for being you.  
> Have a nice day/evening/night.
> 
> P.S. If you want to chat some more or ask about how the next chapter is going, you can hit me up at one of my blogs  
> (tumblr) @just-a-little-bit-of-gay  
> I'd love to have a chat with you and I'm looking forward to the rest of this story (!)


	9. Cracking Eggs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Fleur!” called Roxanne after her, “Put some fucking clothes on!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya folx how're you doing(?) Here's the next chapter.  
> Character are not mine, of course.

—

Fleur had spent the entire week after her _not-date_ trying to crack the egg. Madam Maxine had told her that she could _not_ have any visitors at the carriage until she at least had a clue as to what the second task was about. Given that said task wouldn’t be until after a while, she found this to be quite a fair agreement. That is, until she tried to open the egg for the first time and was banished to her room by her peers, only allowed to continue after everyone had casted their own sort of sound proof spell at her walls. Even Gabrielle had spent most of the week outside with Luna, trying to avoid any possible accidents at her sister’s expense.

In all honestly, Fleur had gotten used rather quickly to the screeching and screaming that were bound to come out of the egg whenever she dared open it, or maybe she was slowly going deaf, she couldn’t really tell. She barely left her room aside from mandatory classes and the occasional meal, the young veela was determined in her quest to figure the clue out. The sooner she got this, the sooner she could hang out with Hermione again. Besides, this kept her away from the rest of the student population that only seemed to be more interested in her after the first task, trying to ask her about the dragon and whatnot. It bothered her to no end, she’d rather have the noisy egg than any of them.

Her mother’s answer to the letter Fleur had sent, helped a little. She’d written that, although it had similarities to some of the old veela glyphs her grandmother knew of, it wasn’t anything she could recognize. But it meant it had some magic in it. Something that wasn’t a wizard had to have something to do with the egg, Fleur was sure of it.

By the time the next weekend rolled around, Fleur had tried _everything_ , or most of everything. Anything she could think of that could have made the egg make a different sound or alter it in any way. She had tried to boil it, freeze it, throw it in the fire, cover it with slime, threw it from the astronomy tower, which had arguably been a mistake because she dropped it on accident, but it proved the egg’s resistance. She had even taken a flight with it on her broom, opening it up when she was as high as she could reach, but still nothing. The next time she stepped foot in the castle after that she heard rumours about banshees from some of the students.

Her room had been “renovated” in the past few days, making room for contraptions and recipients that could fit whatever she thought of that might help. She was slowly building up a theory, her notes spread out in front of her on her desk and covering part of the walls, written in a combination of French and English. See, she had concluded that the screaming only sounded like thousands of agonizing souls because she had no way of listening to it _properly_ , yet. But it was just a matter of time before she thought of something.

Fleur was positive the egg was indestructible, or nearly so, in order to endure the trials and attempts of the champions to work with it. Nothing different happened to the egg while altering its temperature, and there was no different way to open it, no secret combination, no password, no hidden meaning.

Her sister came to check on her occasionally, worry slowly showing in her young face as she saw her sister grow exponentially frustrated with the golden egg, and Rox brought her food and made sure she got some sort of sleep, lest she became too tired to continue with her experiments.

Right now, Fleur was thinking of some new approach to try, she had only attempted to alter the egg itself thus far, but what if she changed the whole environment? Sound waves travelled differently depending on the surface, so she was positive that there would be at least some change if she were to hear it somewhere else. But where to start? She wasn’t sure fire counted, and she was not about to get herself deep in some slimy substance like the ones she had arranged in front of her, her hair would be ruined after that for sure. Just then, Rox came bursting in to her room, a determined look on her face.

“Stop whatever mad science experiment you’re doing and hear me out, when was the last time you took a shower?” Rox crossed her arms in front of her and gave Fleur a defiant look. Said look slowly turned concerned when she saw the way Fleur was looking at her, or wasn’t looking at her, she had a faraway look, as if calculating something in her mind. And she hadn’t answered either.

“Fleur?” She asked, afraid she had lost her friend for good.

“A shower” was all the veela said, “That could work.” And then Fleur took the egg and headed for her bathroom, not sparing her friend another glance. Rox only huffed and went back down to the carriage common room. ‘Witches’, she thought.

—

Fleur had already subjected the egg to many tests involving water, she knew it had no visible reaction to it. That said, she was still a bit afraid to take a bath with it, in _theory_ , it should be completely safe, but she couldn’t be sure. All in all, this competition had shown her just how little they cared about their students in this school, which made her even more paranoid. But she couldn’t rule it out until she tried it. With that decided, she made sure the water was just right and then got in the tub, relaxing for a moment before taking the egg in her hands. She observed it for a moment, it bothered her to no end, she knew every nook, every carving it had, but it remained a mystery.

She submerged the egg and opened it, breathed in some air and then dived in. What she heard left her in shock, it wasn’t until her lungs started to burn that she realized she was still underwater. She quickly got out of the tub, closed the egg and made her way out of the door while merely sparing half a though to her nakedness and throwing a dry towel around herself. She was smiling like a madwoman and made her way outside her room and towards the bottom floor of the carriage, eager to share her findings with anyone that was near. What she hadn’t expected though, was that halfway down the stairs she would come face to face with her favourite little lion.

She managed to stop herself just in time before she collapsed into the girl in front of her and proceeded to forget just what she had been so excited for in the first place, her mind short-circuiting. It seemed like Hermione was having a similar reaction, only she was making an effort to keep her eyes on Fleur’s face instead of anywhere else, and she was sporting a bright blush across her cheeks.

“Fleur, just _what_ do you think you’re doing?” Rox’s voice was the thing that sprung Fleur into action again, she hadn’t even realized her friend was standing there too. The veela composed herself and presented the egg to her friends. “I cracked it, Rox. I solved the egg!” She was smiling again now, so big she wasn’t sure if her friend was scared of her or concerned for her sanity by the way she was looking at her, probably both.

“Great” said Rox, “and you needed to run half naked across the carriage to tell us because…?”

Fleur paused, a little self-conscious now about the way she presented herself, and spoke “Well, I was excited” She proceeded to fix the towel she was using, afraid it would suddenly fall.

There was a long whistle, and it made both French witches turn to their English companion, “You really solved it? How’d you do it?” Hermione asked, curiosity clear in her face. Fleur knew she meant no threat for her, and at this point she couldn’t care if she went and told harry how to solve it. By Hecate, she was almost thinking of going to tell all the other champions herself, if only to give them all enough time to prepare to what the second task could have in store for them. But she had to be careful about it, her Headmistress was not on board with Fleur’s ideas of fair game and good sportsmanship.

“Is the madam here?” The veela asked to Rox, in a whisper.

“She left about an hour ago, won’t be back until dinner.” Her friend stated, which made fleur smile once again, before turning to Hermione.

“Come, I’ll show you” And without a second thought she went back up the stairs, on the way to her room.

“Fleur!” called Roxanne after her, “Put some fucking clothes on!”

—

When Fleur emerged from her bathroom a little later, properly dressed this time with her pyjamas that consisted of blue silk pants and a black t-shirt, she found Hermione staring intently at some of her notes on the egg. She looked as concentrated as she always did while reading in the library or doing homework by herself when she felt like getting some fresh air, not that Fleur had noticed that she only did the latter when the talk at school about the tournament got too much, she _wasn’t_ a stalker.

“You’ve been working on this the whole week?” Hermione asked, “Is that why you’ve barely been back at the castle?”

“You noticed that?” Fleur asked, thrilled about the fact that she wasn’t the only one paying attention.

“Well, I mean.” Hermione blushed lightly, “Luna may have mentioned it, I guess, when she sent me here”

Fleur decided to spare the girl the embarrassment and smiled. “And why _did_ she sent you here, if I may ask?” That seemed to ease the other girl’s awkwardness a bit.

“Ah, she sent me with the copies of the new Quibbler edition,” explained the girl, “apparently a lot of Beauxbatons students have subscriptions to it? I left them downstairs at the common room, if that’s okay”

“It is fine, I’m sure they’ll be able to find them there” Fleur smiled, and both stood in silence for a moment.

“You can take a seat, if you want, the bed is clear, everything else is part of my science lab now.” Fleur said, trying to ease the tension. It made Hermione chuckle, and that was a win in Fleur’s book.

“You really went through the whole scientific method, didn’t you?” There was no trace of mockery in the Gryffindor’s statement, and it took a while for Fleur to process that.

“I’ve always liked solving things, you know, I like a good challenge” Maybe it was the adrenaline from having finally solved the puzzle, or the fact that Hermione was actually _interested_ in what she had to say, but she winked at the girl, before adding, “even if it nearly makes me fall off my broom with that high-pitched sound from hell”

Hermione laughed, it wasn’t loud, or mean, it was an amicable laugh. And Fleur felt the butterflies in her stomach flapping their wings, her heart hammering against her ribcage, if this was a spell, she didn’t want an antidote. She did try to hide her blush as best she could though.

“So that ‘banshee’ all the Hufflepuffs have been talking about, that was you?” Hermione was not laughing out loud now, but Fleur could see it in her eyes. This only made her blush some more.

“I cannot confirm nor deny those accusations. Now, if you would be as kind to take a seat, I can explain my so called ‘mad-veela’ process into solving this egg” Fleur stood up straight, and had her serious face on, but she couldn’t help but smile at the little lion as she quickly made her way over to Fleur’s bed and sat down, urging her to go on with her explanation.

—

They spent quite some time chatting in Fleurs room, while she explained everything she had done that week, answering Hermione’s questions every so often, and throwing an intimidating glare at her whenever she laughed at Fleur’s misfortune. It was a nice change for Fleur, so used to people focusing inly on her looks or the magic in her blood, Hermione saw her for what she was, and admired what she could do, magic or not. The young veela fell even more for the Gryffindor then, if that was even possible.

After a while, Gabrielle came back, and was excited to meet one of Fleur’s new _friends_ , or so she said. She dragged Hermione around the carriage, showing her around, with Fleur following close behind. And each time she heard something she liked from the girl, she sent a knowing smile her sister’s way. Fleur knew her sister well and could already hear the nagging she would have to face later now that she had spent some quality time meeting her big sister’s _crush_. She didn’t mind, though, not when she got to see her little sister struggling to find the correct words in English to describe something and Hermione assuring her that it was fine, that she spoke some French and could understand her just fine, which led to them both talking in a weird mixture of both languages, more comfortable than ever. ‘She speaks French’ Fleur thought, as she saved the information in her mind. It would surely come in handy later.

It came to a point where the three of them were spread out on the floor of Gabrielle’s room, since Fleur was ‘not safe for living’ as her sister put it. Her sister was showing her little makeshift habitat for Ladie to Hermione, who was complimenting on the little girl’s craftsmanship, when there was a know on the door frame. Roxanne was standing there, she’d come to inform the trio that the Madam was bound to come back soon, and even if Fleur had already figured out the egg, it would be better if Hermione wasn’t around when she got here.

Fleur volunteered to walk the girl back to the castle, if only to get to spend some more time with her. As they were walking side by side in silence, Fleur cleared her throat, she got chatty when nervous sometimes. “I just want to point out that you can come back to visit anytime you want, if the castle ever gets to be too much.”

“Thanks,” the girl said, “it’s really nice talking to you, even if it’s about the tournament” she said the last thing with a huff.

“Yes, I quite enjoy talking to you too.” Fleur said. “You are free to tell Harry about the egg if you wish, I do not care, the best chances we all have of staying alive the better.”

“That’s nice of you. I don’t think he’s even thinking about it right now though.” Said the girl. Fleur was about to comment something else when she realized they were already in front of the castle, has the walk here always been this short?

She bid Hermione goodbye and made her way back toward the carriage, replaying every interaction they’d had that day, the happiness of figuring the clue adding up to the surprise of spending time with Hermione.

—

“So, what did she say?” Asked Roxanne when Fleur had gotten back to the carriage.

“About what?” Fleur asked.

“About the Ball? Did you ask her to be your date?” Oh, right, there was a Ball. A Ball Fleur needed a date for, a Ball she had completely forgotten until now. Her silence was enough of an answer for her friend and Gabrielle, who had decided to stick around and wait for her to come back.

“Silly Fleur” Gabrielle teased, “I even asked her about it when we were still here, she doesn’t have a date yet.”

“You did?” Had Fleur really been that distracted?

“Yes, but I guess you were too busy drooling over her to actually pay attention to what we were saying, Honestly _, soeur_ , you’re too far gone.”

Fleur collapsed into one of the many couches, face down onto a bunch of pillows.

“I’ve lost my chance now. My fate is doomed. Forever”

Roxanne rolled her eyes at her friend’s antiques. “Relax, drama queen. Just remember to ask her next time and it’ll be alright. You can go look for her at the library tomorrow.”

Fleur looked up to the general direction of her friend with an easy smile. She was right, it wasn’t like everyone was asking people already. There was a lot of time left before the Ball. And she was going to ask Hermione to be her date the next time she saw her, she had to do it.

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still have some build up left to do before I write about the Ball. Is there anything you'd like to see happen?  
> For now let me know what you think of the chapter, I really appreciate all the nice comments(!)  
> Have a good day/evening/night and remember to have a healthy amount of sleep ;)


	10. The Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I mean, what was I supposed to say?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer, characters are not mine.

—

Fleur was having a good day so far, not many boys staring at her, classes were alright, nothing to complain about. She was heading to the library so she could do some research on sea creatures and how to defend herself underwater.

After discovering what the second task was going to be about, she had taken a while to plan out her strategy. She wasn’t sure if she could attempt any kind of spell that altered her anatomy since it might not work the same with her veela blood as it would with a full human. She decided to go the simple way around it instead. Now all she had to do was try and practice her swimming and her spells underwater and it should be alright.

What she hadn’t figured out yet was the part where it said something would be taken from her. Did it mean a heirloom of some sort? where they going to sneak out and try and steal something from her? She’d been keeping an eye on her stuff and hadn’t noticed anything missing. She mostly brought school stuff with her to Hogwarts anyway, the most valuable thing she had right now, if sentimental value counted, would be the scarf Hermione gave her, and she kept it by her bed just in case. Because it was _cold_ at night and the scarf was enchanted, not because she was being weird or anything. Although it still smelled like Hermione’s perfume.

Fleur had also been planning on how to ask the Gryffindor to be her date for the Ball. She’d given it a lot of thought and it seemed like a direct approach would be her best chance, if she started with small talk she might chicken out or make a fool out of herself so best to just go to the point and hope for the best.

Speaking of hope, Fleur was half expecting to see if she could find Hermione at the library, just to ask her out or maybe talk for a little while, it was always nice being with her. As soon as she entered the library, she scanned the tables looking for her, she unconsciously went in the direction of her usual table, while keeping an eye out for the girl. When she got close enough, she recognized a mane of brown hair. Upon further inspection though, she also recognized an internationally famous quidditch player sitting next to her.

_Time to hide_ , Fleur though, but then she remembered that the section she had to go to was right behind the area were the two of them were sitting. She decided to do a complete detour through the bookshelves to avoid being seen, even if it got her some weird looks from people there. She could excuse her behaviour by pulling the foreigner card though, so she didn’t pay them any mind.

She was skimming through the book titles trying to find something that looked like it could be of help in order to get out of there as fast as possible. The less chance she had of being spotted by Hermione the better. She wouldn’t be able to be polite next to them, she didn’t despise Viktor, but she couldn’t help being a bit jealous when she saw them both together, and she had been having such a nice day so far.

She grabbed a couple of books and was about to make her way back when she heard someone clearing their throat, it sounded close to her but not too close. Then she heard a voice, “Hermione” it said, it was Viktor who was talking, she recognized his accent. Something in her was telling her to go, now, not to listen to what he was about to say. A part of her already knew what was going to happen, she had a feeling in her gut about it. Her feet weren’t cooperating, she was stuck standing there. All she could do was keep staring at the books in front of her while she heard Viktor asking Hermione to go to the Ball with him.

‘Please say no. Please say no. Please say no’ Fleur repeated in her mind like a prayer. But whatever deity was meddling with their lives now didn’t listen. Hermione accepted, of course. As soon as Fleur heard the words, she felt like she could move again. And for a moment she fancied the thought that maybe fate had kept her there just so she could hear that interaction. Like a sick play of destiny, make her go to that exact place at that time just so she could have her heart broken a little bit more. She thought she would be having more of a reaction to it, but she seemed to be on autopilot now, the sounds were sort of muted around her, and she could barely focus on what was in front of her. Fleur silently made her way out of the library, took the books with her, and headed for the carriage. She’d just missed her chance. It was over.

—

 “I mean, what was I supposed to say? _‘Hi Hermione, this might sound shocking but please don’t go to the Ball with Viktor, go with me instead’_ Like that would have worked” Fleur said after recounting the events of the library to Rox while they left their last class.

“Well, maybe not like that, but you could have mentioned it to her. Say, something a little less…” Something seemed to stop Rox from continuing, she even stopped walking. But Fleur was too invested in her own thoughts to pay any mind to the cause of that. She stopped next to her friend but kept talking.

“I mean I could have still asked her to the Ball, but what was the point if I already knew the outcome? Besides, I haven’t been any good at expressing my feelings so far. She hated me for a while there, remember that? Maybe I should just leave it at that, get on with the competition, go back to France, go live in the forest with grandma”

“Fleur, I don’t think-“ Rox tried to stop her from continuing, but Fleur didn’t listen.

“Do you think my mom would be okay with that? I mean it’s not like I’m moving to Australia. But I mean, wait, how would living in Australia be like? Maybe I could-“

“Fleur.”

It wasn’t Roxanne calling her name now, but the voice was familiar. So familiar now that Fleur could tell who it was without even looking. And she didn’t want to look. Not when she had just been talking about how she had wanted to ask her out and then went on a tangent about moving to Australia. How much had she heard?

She looked at Rox, who had an exasperated look on her face. She’d tried to warn her. Fleur gulped and then look at where Hermione was standing, she didn’t look mad, or disgusted, not even pissed off, she just had a certain look on her face. Fleur didn’t know what that look meant, and if she tested her broom-less flying skills maybe she wouldn’t have to find out.

But, transforming would be too much of a hassle, so she just stood there, not able to look away from the girl who’d picked her interest since the very start. If it all had to end, might as well do it now. A broken heart could mend, with time, she’d much rather hear it from the Gryffindor herself though, just so she could start getting over it.

Hermione seemed to be organizing her thoughts, not saying anything, just staring at her. And Fleur would have given anything to know what the girl was thinking about at that moment, but even if she were proficient at legilimency she wouldn’t dare use it on her. Too invasive for her liking. She was short of asking Hermione to say something herself when her friend decided to speak.

“Whatever it is you’re going to say, maybe you should take it to a place less crowded?” Said Roxanne to the pair of girls who were still staring at each other.

“Yes, good idea.” Said Hermione, looking more decided, “Wanna go for a walk?”

—

They walked side by side in silence until they were out of the castle, and a little more after that. Fleur had no idea what to make of the situation.

“So” Hermione starts, after they’re out in the grounds of the castle. Fleur can hardly feel the cold as much as she feels her heart’s every beat. This is it. This is how her chances with Hermione die. “You wanted to ask _me_ to the Yule Ball?” Hermione sounds surprised, probably because now the count of champions that want to go with her to ball went up to two, which is half of them. Or maybe because Fleur is a girl? She is aware od the muggle society and their prejudice against this sort of things. 

“I- yes.” Fleur says, there’s no point in lying. Not to Hermione.

“Why didn’t you?” Now she was intrigued. The Gryffindor didn’t sound mad or disgusted, which was good. Fleur sighed.

“I was scared” answered the veela.

“Scared? Of me?” Asked Hermione.

“Scared of what you would think. I didn’t want to make a fool of myself. And I tend to lose my charm when you’re around. I was scared you would laugh at me” She couldn’t look Hermione in the eye right now. She couldn’t bare to see the disappointment reflected in her eyes.

But a hand took her own and Fleur found herself staring into those beautiful brown eyes that were most of the time focused on books. Her little lion was staring right at her with a calm face, and a glint in her eyes.

“Fleur, I would never laugh at you” she said, “if anything, I feel flattered, really” a light blush dusted her Hermione’s cheeks and she finally broke eye contact, letting go of Fleur’s hand and using it to adjust her uniform.

“To think that the school’s bookworm would make Beauxbatons champion _nervous_ , that’s something.” Something flashed before Hermione’s eyes, but Fleur couldn’t tell what it was for sure.

 “I don’t know about everyone else, but to me you are one of the most wonderful, kind people I’ve had the chance to meet. Of course it would make me nervous to talk to you. I put up this façade with everyone, to keep them away. But you, I wanted you to know me for me.” Fleur looked briefly at Hermione before continuing, “But I guess I am not used to being me with other people anymore, I can be bit of a mess”

“Just a bit?” Hermione asked, toothy grin on her face.

“Oh, shut up, at least I’m pretty.” The heaviness in Fleur’s heart faded as they eased into casual banter.

“Very” Said the Gryffindor, still smiling.

And wow, Fleur could just look at her for hours. If it weren’t for the fact that she wanted to listen to her as well, and she was so distracted by Hermione that she wasn’t sure she could do both at the same time. It was as if the girl had a thrall of her own, but only for Fleur, maybe this was what love was like.

 “So, you are not mad?” asked the veela, just in case.

“Not at all.” Hermione said. And everything was right again. Although her little lion still seemed to have something on her mind, and Fleur didn’t need read her mind to guess what it was.

“But you are still going to the ball with Viktor” Said Fleur, a hint of sadness in her voice.

“I-“started the girl, trying to make up her mind, “yes.” She finally said.

“I understand” said Fleur, and she managed not to show how much she was hurting.

“It’s not like that, though” explained Hermione, “like, a _date_ , nothing like that.”

Fleur stared curiously at the girl, who had opted to take the veela’s hand again an distract herself by looking at it.

“Care to explain?” Fleur asked, she knew there was more to it, but she wasn’t sure if Hermione wanted to tell her.

“You know how Viktor’s been asking me about muggle culture, yeah?” Fleur shook her head yes, “Well, he kind of, likes someone, from his school. One of the few muggleborns that go to Durmstrang. But they couldn’t come here for the tournament. Viktor was just trying to get to know the muggle world better so he could, ah, have a better chance with this person.”

“I see” Fleur said, this made sense now. It was actually kind of cute. And she was glad she hadn’t lashed out to the boy on one of the many occasions she had wanted to. “So, he invited you to the ball as friends?”

“Yeah, he doesn’t really want to ask someone else, thinks they’ll think he’s interested in them or something. Most people will just ask him about quidditch anyway, being famous and all that” Hermione shrugged her shoulders at that and looked at Fleur.

“I can relate, to some extent, I guess” She had experience with people like that. It was one of the things that had led her to Hermione earlier on. Maybe that was why she and Viktor were such good friends too. “What you’re doing is very kind.”

“Thanks” Hermione took a long pause, “I just want him to go with someone he can actually talk to. I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression,” she squeezed Fleur’s hand, “I’d love to go with you, but I already told him yes”

“It’s okay” Fleur said, “you have nothing to apologize for. I understand. Besides, we´re bound to be near each other, I’m sure they’ll keep the champions together. We’re opening the ball and everything.” She smiled a little at that, trying to think of the positive things about this.

“Yeah, I guess I’ll see you there, it’ll be fun.” Hermione seemed more at ease now.

“I’ll save you a dance” Fleur winked at the girl.

And were had that confidence come from? It was good though, Fleur didn’t feel nervous anymore. She could understand what was happening, Hermione was still talking to her, and she seemed to like her as well. Even if things were not going according to plan, it was going somewhere. Even if she wasn’t sure if the other girl _liked_ her, she was positive they were friends. It was good having a friend. With Hermione still holding her hand, both of them away from everyone else, Fleur felt as if she could face anything that came for her.

“Say” Fleur started, “do you happen to know anyone that would go with me and not droll all over the place? I’d really like to go with someone I could at least talk to.”

“Actually” Hermione said, “I think I have an idea” Her face had brightened a bit, as if she had just come up with a plan. And, honestly, Fleur would trust her with her life at this point, might as well follow her advice on this one.

“Do tell, what do you have in mind.” Said the veela. The Gryffindor didn’t speak right away though, she kept quiet for a moment, thinking.

“You don’t care about what the media would say, right?” Hermione asked.

“I have lived with gossip long enough, everyone close to me knows it’s all rubbish, and anyone else’s opinion doesn’t matter” It was true, if there was something she had always been good at, it was ignoring people’s opinions about her. First for being a quarter veela, then for being good at school. Honestly, people made up the weirdest of stories only to sell papers of create drama where there wasn’t need to.  She could take the criticism, as long as she knew what was real to her, nothing else mattered.

“Great” continued Hermione, intertwining her fingers with Fleur’s and looking ahead, “so, what do you think about people with glasses?”

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is it. This is the part that got me into writing this whole fic, people.  
> I remember I was reading fanfics and it was either Fleur and Hermione going togeteher to the ball (which tbh is great and I do want to write something like that later on) or them fighting and trying to make the other jealous with their dates. So, I wanted a third option. And here it is. Next up might be the Ball (might make a fluffy filler maybe? if you want me to) and I assure you it will have a lot of Fleurmione moments.  
> Feel free to tell me what you think in the comments, or hmu on my tumblr (jut-a-little-bit-of-gay)  
> Thank you all for reading, I hope you don't hate me for this.  
> Have a good day/evening/night.


	11. Practice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘The champions must open the Ball, it’s tradition.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

—

_‘The champions must open the Ball, it’s tradition.’_

That’s what Madam Maxime had said when she approached Fleur one day after breakfast. It wasn’t like Fleur couldn’t dance, of course she could. Even if she was sure that, with her thrall, most of the people that would be staring at her at the Ball wouldn’t be concerned with her dancing skills. Still, her Headmistress insisted that she went to this class, so she could _‘practice her skills’_ just in case.

If she had to guess, she’d say that someone from their schools didn’t want them to screw up the Ball, so they gathered all the champions and made them practice together. Of course, with her being the only girl of the four champions, she got a chance to practice with all of them. Oh, what a fun evening it was.

First, it was Cedric. Well intentioned, handsome Cedric. Fleur had nothing against him, besides the fact that she sometimes caught him slipping and staring at her, but that was just her thrall. He managed to control it enough to have a normal dance, at least. He wasn’t half bad, but it wasn’t wonderful either. Although she guessed that if he were to dance with anyone else, he might be a bit more focused and do just fine.

“Fleur,” Harry said, as she approached him so they could practice. He had a guilty look on his face. “Is it okay if we don’t do the, uh, lifting just yet? I don’t want to drop you by accident.”

“It’s alright,” Fleur said, glad that he minded enough to be honest with her. “Maybe I could lead this time, yes?”

She didn’t receive an answer, but the shy smile from the boy was enough. She took his hand and lead him to the dance floor, not minding about the teacher watching them closely. After all, she’d never minded the staring. Harry looked nervous, not because of her thrall, but because of his own fears. She couldn’t tell what was making the boy so anxious, but she wanted to help. This was also one of the few times she had been close to the boy without their lives being in immediate danger so far. She smiled at him to try and get him to calm down.

“Harry, is everything okay?” She asked.

“Yeah,” he said, “Don’t want to trip on my feet is all.” He kept looking at the ground, then at her.

“Don’t worry, you’re doing fine.” She assured. “I’ll hold you if you trip, anyway.”

“Thanks,” he said, a bit calmer now. They had been dancing for a while and it looked like the more comfortable Harry was, the less mistakes he made.

“So,” He started, after a few moments of silence, “Hermione said you, uh, don’t have a date yet?”

Fleur laughed, a little nervous. It was weird, to hear something like that. For her to be having trouble finding a date. What had she become?

“Yes. I wanted to ask someone to be my date. But I was too late, someone else had already asked her.” She had no idea of how much Hermione had told him, so she didn’t say any names. She wasn’t ashamed of admitting to having invited a girl, though.

“I can relate to that. You could say we’re on the same boat here.” Ah, Fleur thought, so he had been rejected too. That was interesting. Being the chosen one and all, Fleur thought he had his own fan club or something.

“Ah, I’m sorry to hear that” she said, “If it helps, you’re not that bad of a dancer, Harry.”

“Thank you,” he said, smiling, “You make it easier.”

“You’re way too nervous for this. It’s just a dance. Don’t think about what people will say.” As she said this, the music ended.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Harry said. “Thanks.”

“My pleasure.” Fleur said and kept close so she could talk to him without everyone else listening. “I don’t suppose you know of a place we could practice some more later? I would like to be more at ease about this before the Ball. We are to be partners, anyway.” I sounded weird when she said it, but she was getting used to it. It took a lot of convincing once Hermione brought the idea up. But she eventually made Fleur see the logic behind it, and she had said that Harry had agreed to it as well. The boy was still getting used to it too, it seemed, as he blushed slightly and averted his gaze from the veela.

“Yeah, I’ll tell Hermione about it. She’ll let you know” And with that Fleur went to look for her last dance partner for the day. Just one more and she could go back to not caring about this. She was excited like everyone else, but she’d very much rather focus on studying or preparing for the next task.

“Viktor,” she said, “ready?” She tried to sound as friendly as possible. After all, the Durmstrang champion was not a threat for her anymore. Not in a way that mattered

“Yes.” He said and proceeded to guide her towards an empty space so they could practice.

All in all, it was a good practice. Perhaps Fleur had been a little more demanding when dancing with Viktor, she excused herself by thinking she had to make sure that whoever took Hermione to the Ball had to be up to the standard. She could tell the boy was nervous about something, too, but he danced just fine. I wasn’t until halfway through the song that he decided to be vocal about it.

“I assume you already know this but, I asked Hermione to be my partner to the Yule Ball.” He spoke slowly, as if checking his own accent to make sure he got his point across.

“I am aware, yes.” A part of Fleur still wanted to do something about it, but she managed to control herself.

“I hope there is no problem. I know you wanted to ask her.”

“Yes, it’s fine.” Fleur said without thinking. “Wait, how did you know about it?” That was new information.

“We are friends, you know. She tells me stuff.” There was a glint in his eyes, and Fleur wanted to know just _what_ Hermione told him. “And you are not very subtle. Not to me, after all. I am very observant.”

Fleur almost slipped and caused a scene that moment. Just who else knew about her little crush now? She’d have to ask Rox about any new gossip about her.

“Don’t worry,” Viktor told her. “I won’t tell a soul. I hope you and I can be friends, too. Don’t you think?”

“Yes” Fleur said, as the song ended, “I’d like that.”

—

Her second practice session was far more enjoyable. Partially because it was only Hermione, Harry and her in the Room of Requirement with an old music player. And, since both Hogwarts students knew more about muggle music, she had the chance to listen to some new songs. She was still dancing the leading part, and Harry didn’t seem to mind. Still, they skipped on the lifting bit.

It was even better after they had been dancing for quite a while, when Fleur was sure Harry was comfortable enough with her to not trip every few seconds. He decided to ask his friend to dance, just to pass the time now that he wasn’t as worried. Hermione had been reading some books while casually staring at them and checking the music, and she took the boys hand with a smile.

Fleur took this as a chance to catch her breath. She couldn’t get enough of just how at ease both Gryffindor’s acted near each other, it must be out of the complete trust they have in the other. After all they’ve been too, they must be like family. It was a nice chance, to just be three students practicing for the Ball, outside of the curious gaze.

Had she known of this room before she may have used it to escape the groups of students who were always following her around her first weeks at Hogwarts, but then she wouldn’t have had the chance to speak to Hermione at the library

She must’ve been too distracted by her own thoughts, the next thing she noticed was that her now friends were not dancing anymore. Harry was messing with the music, and Hermione was, well, she was right in front of Fleur, asking for a dance.

Fleur smiled a full smile and took the girl’s hand. Now she was the nervous one, although she was pretty confident in her dancing skills. She trusted that her feet would know what to do even when in her head she was screaming about just how close the Gryffindor was. They were really close, Fleur felt as if she could float right off the grounds if she didn’t concentrate. 

If Fleur looked at least half as nervous as she was feeling, Hermione made no sign of noticing, she just stared at Fleur as they started dancing.

“Hope I don’t step on your feet, I haven’t practiced in a while.” Said the Gryffindor.

“You are doing great. You’re great.” Fleur felt herself blushing after saying that. “I mean, of course you’re great, anyone can tell you that. But, dancing, yeah.” Great, Fleur thought. Just great, she’d talked to the girl before, what made her so nervous all of a sudden?

“So, how’s everything going?” She couldn’t think of a better topic to talk about at the moment, but Fleur hoped that would be enough to get Hermione talking and save her from embarrassing herself any further.

“It’s going good, yes.” Hermione said, although it seemed like she was more invested in watching her steps than in talking. Nevertheless, she continued. “Ron’s been getting on my nerves lately, he doesn’t believe I have a date.”

“What? Is he blind?” Fleur asked, and it made Hermione look up from the floor and straight at her. Fleur could start counting on the girl’s freckles if she wanted to. “I mean, you are really beautiful, Hermione. And smart and fun and very easy to talk to. I wouldn’t be surprised of you getting a date.” _I just wish it were me_. But Fleur didn’t say the last part out loud. Instead, she went with, “and you’re a good dance partner too.” This did the trick, and Fleur observed how a light blush covered the girl’s cheeks.

“I- thanks Fleur, you’re a really nice dance partner too.” She said, smiling. “Can’t wait for that dance you said you’ll save for me.”

“I can’t wait either” And with that, the song ended. And both girls parted ways.

They went like this for a bit longer, switching dance partners and practicing. Then they were just goofing around and listening to the music. Until they all sat at the couch, exhausted, and talked about anything and everything. Fleur told them some things about veela and magic, and her home back at France. And both Gryffindors shared stories about their adventures and their lives outside of Hogwarts.

At some point they thought someone had found them, as the door to the room opened, but they saw no one. After a moment, they heard meowing and Fleur felt a weight on her body, she came face to face with what seemed like a cat with unruly ginger hair and yellow eyes. The cat just stared at her before turning his body and curling up in her lap.

“Well, aren’t you handsome?” Fleur said. “How did you find this place?”

It was then that Fleur took notice on the silence in the room, and she turned to look at her companions to see what was happening. They were both staring at her, Harry with a perplexed look on his face and Hermione with an unreadable expression.

“He’s never done that with me” Harry said. “That’s Crookshanks, Hermione’s cat.”

“Oh,” Fleur said, then turned to the cat, “Bonsoir, Monsieur Crookshanks, it is nice to meet you.” The cat didn’t seem to acknowledge the veela, but he shifted slightly and relaxed a little bit more.

“He isn’t really fond of people.” Hermione said, “Well, most people, I guess.”

“I see,” Fleur said, “Well, he must be quite smart then. You can’t really trust people all the time.”

“Quite smart, indeed,” conceded Hermione, “I’m guessing he came to find us to remind me of feeding him.” The girl looked sad at the thought, “We should get going.”

“Oh, I see then. It’s okay.” Fleur was thinking of a strategy she could follow that would help get Crookshanks off her while keeping all her fingers intact. She’s used to just letting animals do as they please as long as they’re not bothering anybody, so she was a little nervous about handling this cat while he looked so comfortable.

As Hermione was standing, though, the cat rose up on his own and lead the way outside. To the corridors and the staring paintings and the people who always seemed to have something to criticize or frown upon. The hiding had been good while it lasted.

“We’ll see you around then.” Harry said, as goodbye.

“Definitely” Fleur said, “This was nice, I hope we can do it again”

“That’d be great, yes.” Said the boy, less nervous around the veela as he had been before. “What do you say, Hermione?”

“I think I’d like that.” Was all she said. And the smile she directed at Fleur as they left the room was enough to keep the veela smiling all the way back to her own room at the carriage.

“Why is Fleur all smiley now?” Asked Gabrielle once she spotted her sister. Fleur’s room had gone back to being hospitable so Rox had stationed herself there to do her homework while she heard about Fleur’s day.

“She was out with Hermione” Said Rox.

“Aaah, another date then? Was it good?” Her sister questioned.

“It wasn’t a _date_ date. Harry was there too.” Said Fleur, “But yes, it was good.”

“Harry was there? How’s he like? Do you think he’ll come visit us here?” Her sister’s obsession with the boy was understandable, and Harry had proven to be a good person, so Fleur took it upon herself to answer her sister’s questions as best as she could while trying to make sure that if the boy were to visit it wouldn’t end badly. It was nice having more friends.

Maybe she could talk to him about that autograph while they practiced next time, or at the Ball. She didn’t want to make him uncomfortable though, and she felt like she could understand him in a way. She’d keep it mind, for when the occasion presented itself.

She still had to figure out what she was going to wear, anyway.

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go. This was nice.  
> Next up is the Yule Ball, if everything goes well.  
> Hope you're doing well, I'll see you around.  
> And have a good day/evening/night (!)


	12. Yule Ball I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Nothing.” Harry said, still smiling. “Did Hermione give you that?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go. None of the characters are mine, okay? okay.

—

“I just hope you know what you’re getting into”

Fleur sighed, she appreciated the concern her Headmistress had for her, but they had been talking about this ever since Fleur told her who she was going to the Yule Ball with. Still, she knew the Madam was only worried for her.

“Don’t worry, there’s nothing they can say about me that I haven’t heard already” Fleur hoped she exuded the confidence and strength enough to convince her teacher that she would be okay. In all honestly, she couldn’t care less at this point about what people say. She had gotten used to it, it wasn’t nice, but it was necessary, giving her situation.

“Okay,” Said the Headmistress while she escorted her champion, and a group of Beauxbatons’ students who walked closely behind them, as they made their way to the castle. Most of them were struggling a little, be it because of the heels they chose to wear or the cold wind. Their gowns offered little to no protection against the weather. Fleur was sporting a red scarf, and she remained unbothered. Of course, this sparked questioning and gossip amongst her peers. After all, she had chosen to keep her partner’s identity a secret from most people.

“Did the boy give you that scarf?” Asked the Madam, in an effort to make their way to the castle more pleasant.

“Non.” Fleur blushed, remembering the events that led her to having that particular scarf. “This was a gift, from Hermione. It is enchanted, so I won’t get cold.”

“Ah” Madam Maxime exclaimed, “That girl, if she wasn’t English, I am sure she would have been a fine student at Beauxbatons. Be sure to invite her more often, you are happier when she’s near.”

If Fleur had an answer to that, she couldn’t voice it, they were at the main entrance now, and she decided to keep quiet, lest someone listen in on their conversation. Even if she herself could take the critiques, she minded the well-being of her friends in that matter.

Most of the Beauxbatons group made their way inside the main hall, where the Ball would take place. Fleur, however, was taken by her Headmistress to a place near the entrance, where the other champions would await their moment to make their entrance. There was a professor there, McGonagall, if she remembered correctly, and her Headmistress left Fleur with her before making her way inside herself, not before taking the French champion’s scarf with her, for safekeeping.

“Miss Delacour, welcome, you look lovely this evening.” McGonagall said.

“Thank you, professor.” Replied the veela.

“And your date?” Said professor asked.

“I am sure he’ll be joining us shortly.” She was positive that Harry was, at the very least, on his way there or already trying to escape whoever friend he was with at the moment. No one knew they were coming together, after all.

“He?” The professor sounded surprised but tried to mask it. “I was expecting you to ask Hermione before anyone else.” She said.

Fleur was left speechless. Was she really that obvious? Even the professors knew about it. Heck, she might just write “I have a crush on Hermione Granger” on her forehead then, for Venus’ sake! Or she could get a t-shirt.

“I was a little late.” Fleur admitted. “But she’ll be fine, she’s coming with a friend.”

“Oh, well” said McGonagall, if not a little disappointed. “As long as you all have fun”

It looked like the teacher was about to go on talking about something, but she spotted Cedric coming along and excused herself, asking for Fleur to stay put as she went and gathered the rest of the champions.

“You look good.” Viktor said as he approached her. He carried himself with silent confidence.

“Thank you,” Fleur answered, “so do you.” It was the truth, he was handsome after all. And Fleur had told herself that she would try to be more open with the boy now that she’d learned that he wasn’t trying to date her crush after all. Viktor only nodded and stood awkwardly besides her.

“I’m not really good at parties,” the Durmstrang champion admitted after a while, “I don’t want to be rude, but I’m not sure if I can handle all the… people.” When Fleur paid more attention to him, she realized that he did look the least bit nervous, maybe he was trying to look confident, and he was really good at faking it.

“Don’t worry, “Fleur said, already making up a pep-talk in her mind. “we’ll be in our own table, champions only. And when we dance, try to focus more on your partner than on everyone else. People already pin you as reserved, so I don’t expect anyone trying to chat you up” was that good? It was the best she could come up with, and it was the truth. After all, she herself had been hesitant of approaching the boy at first. She looked him straight in the eye then, and said “and if anyone makes you uncomfortable, I’ll deck them.” She smiled her most devilish smirk and got a laugh out of the boy.

“Thank you,” he said, “I feel much better now.” He looked more relaxed now, his stance more natural. Good, Fleur though, so far so good.

After a while, Cedric and his date, Cho, joined them on their little spot. There was only one champion missing now, and a certain someone. Fleur tried not to look too desperate, pretending to be bored or focusing on the little details in decoration. It was quite beautiful. She dreaded what she’d have to do later while they were inside. After all, she was sure that her thrall would surely ‘encourage’ most of the male population to ask her to dance or stare at her while she did, so she had a little number prepared for the occasion.

She was distracted from her inner scheming by her newest friend, Viktor.

“Do you know when she’s coming?” _she_ , it was easier than trying to pronounce her name, for sure. And he need not specify who, for the girl never left the veela’s mind, not for a second.

“I am not sure,” she admitted, “I offered to help her prepare, but she insisted on doing it herself. She said it was a surprise.” After their last secret practice session, the French girl had approached Hermione and offered her assistance, hoping to have some alone time with the girl before they had to face the rest of the schools, but the girl had declined. This only made the quarter veela a tad bit sad, and very curious too.

“I’ll go look for her, won’t take long” Viktor said, and left the group of champions. Fleur felt like going after him, help him look. But she knew that people were already staring at her, and she didn’t want to go where everyone else was just yet.

After a while, McGonagall returned with Harry at her side, and behind them were Viktor and Hermione. Had Harry said something to her? Fleur couldn’t tell, she was too _distracted_ at the moment. She had only eyes for Hermione. Sweet, beautiful, charming Hermione. Even in her mind Fleur couldn’t come up with words to describe just what she thought about the girl’s look, it was as if her mere presence overshadowed everything else. There was no competition, no war, just Hermione.

Someone grabbed her shoulder, though, and it was enough to bring her back to reality. She checked herself and looked around, glad to find that no one was looking at her, except for her date. Harry had been the one to poke her to get her attention, and he was laughing.

“Careful, Fleur,” the boy said, “people are going to start thinking you have _feelings._ ”

“Shut up,” Fleur said, pushing him aside. She was glad that Harry and she had gotten closer over time, she could really say she had chosen a friend to come with her to the Ball. These little jokes only proved to her that the boy was kind-hearted and made her want to protect him even more. He was just a _kid_ , she though, and he was supposed to carry the future of the wizarding world on his shoulders.

Fleur wanted to get closer to Hermione now, to say something, at least, compliment her in a way that would make sense, if she could. But the teacher was calling them and arranging them in their starting places already. The Ball was about to begin.

If anyone was surprised about two champions coming together, they didn’t comment on it. McGonagall just looked at Fleur knowingly and placed her and Harry in front of Hermione and Viktor.

“Psst,” Fleur heard, from behind her. “You look beautiful, Fleur.” Hermione whispered.

The veela turned around, briefly, smiling. “Thanks, so do you” she said, before turning back and focusing on what was in front of her while trying to ignore the smug looks she was receiving from both Harry _and_ Viktor. She’d be damned if she entered the Hall while blushing, she tried to even her breath, to appear somewhat calm. It couldn’t be farther from the truth, though, in her mind she was cartwheeling all over the place while saying ‘ _Hermione called me beautiful’_ over and over again.

She managed to control herself, still smiling like a madwoman, but it was enough. She did her best at ignoring the shocking reactions from some of the students, both at her date and at Viktor’s. She tried not to focus too much on the people that were mocking Hermione, lest she remember their faces and kill them in their sleep. It wasn’t worth it, and Hermione wouldn’t approve. Finally, they arrived at their table, listened to Dumbledore’s speech and went on with their night.

Fleur made sure to keep her conversations low, she didn’t want anyone to listen in on what she was discussing with her friends. It was a nice night and she wanted to have fun. She discussed extensively with Viktor about the cultural differences between their countries and how hard it was to adapt to a different culture while being in the middle of a deadly competition, they discussed quidditch too, as this was a topic Harry could contribute to as well. The three champions bonded over sports and their lack of social skills, they even joked about their first impressions of each other.

This went perfectly with what she had planned, and quite on time, as well. She had noticed more and more people staring at them, trying to figure out what they were doing. Couldn’t they just mind their business? The veela decided it was time to put on a show. She laughed at something one of the boys had said about her.

“Oh, I get that one a lot. _Cold-stone-bitch_ is one of my favourite insults. I encourage it, keeps the fuck boys away. Watch and learn.” She said, and straightened up, successfully silencing her companions while gathering a bit more of attention on herself.

A small critique here, some snide comment there, belittling the hosts and so on. Fleur made sure to make her accent as noticeable as possible, emphasizing on the important words and ending it all with a hit to the table for effect. She hoped that would be enough to send the message through to everyone listening in that she was _not_ in the mood for socializing, ever. After that she looked around, confidently, before shrugging and going back to eating.

The table was silent for a moment, until Viktor spoke up. “Fleur, have you considered a career in acting?” it was followed up by a compliment for Harry “bloody awesome, really good” and then a quiet mumble from Hermione “fooled me the first time, for sure.” They went back to their easy conversation after that, and Fleur was happy. She was really enjoying herself. She hadn’t expected to make such good friends when she signed up for coming to Hogwarts, she expected the danger and the cold, but not the friendship. It was a nice surprise.

When the time came for the dance to begin, the champions made their way to the dancefloor. Fleur held on to Harry, and she could almost feel the boy’s nervousness. She looked at him and smiled, trying to get his full attention, there was something they hadn’t discussed about this moment, and she wanted to be sure.

“Just like we practiced?” She asked, with a playful smile.

“Just like we practiced.” Harry answered, and like that they switched their hand position so Fleur could be the one leading. She could immediately tell the boy had relaxed some, and as they went on dancing he became even more confident, just like the times they practiced. He began to scrunch up his eyebrows in curiosity though, looking at the veela.

“Fleur,” he said, “are you actually going to do it?” He didn’t specify any further, but Fleur knew exactly what he was talking about.

“Trust me.” She said, and after receiving a tiny nod from the youngest champion, she proceeded to lift him up in the air, just in time with the music. She did a quick sweep of their audience with her eyes before focusing her gaze back on her dance partner, just to see the general reactions. It was more surprised or shocked than disgusted or disapproving, so she took it as a good sign. It didn’t matter though, as long as they had fun.

Teachers started to join them on the dance floor, followed by some courageous students. And Fleur and Harry found their dance pleasantly interrupted.

“Excuse me, I was promised a dance.” Said Hermione as she and Viktor approached the dancing pair.

“Of course,” Harry said, “she’s all yours” he stepped aside, smiling.

“Are you going to be okay on you own, Harry?” Fleur asked, not nearly as worried as she painted the question.

“I believe it is only natural that, since we are both without partners now, I should ask Potter for a dance.” Said Viktor, while smiling, the party was certainly getting to him. He looked calmer and happier than when he first saw Fleur just some hours ago.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Hermione asked.

“It is okay, Hermione.” Assured Viktor. “Fleur said she would deck anyone who bothered me.”

“Did she now?” The Gryffindor smiled and looked at Fleur, who feigned innocence, poorly. “Well, go on then, as long as Harry agrees.”

Harry, who had been quiet the whole time, chimed in with “as long as I don’t lead, I’m in.” and with they parted to start dancing again.

It was nice, really. Fleur had gotten past her nervousness with Hermione in dancing, and she took the leading part head on. She thought she saw McGonagall looking at them but she couldn’t tell for sure, she wasn’t about to take her eyes off of the girl in front of her.

“You look happy.” Fleur said, she could go on and on about how wonderful Hermione looked tonight, or how her laugh made butterflies erupt inside her and how she felt like flying every time the girl so much as smiled on her direction. But she decided a simple approach would be better.

“I am. Happy, I mean.” Said Hermione. “This has been better than expected, if I ignore the fact that it feels like everyone’s staring at me”

Fleur knew that feeling, she knew it very well. She was surprised that people were equally staring at her and at her dance partner, thrall and all. Hermione was incredible like that.

“Let them stare,” Fleur said, confidently, “you are a sight to behold, if I do say so myself”

“Flattery will get you nowhere” Hermione said, blushing and smiling as they continued to dance.

“I am only stating the facts.” Fleur said.

More and more students were joining in on the dance, it felt like they had been dancing forever. And Fleur knew it would come to an end soon, she decided to seize the moment and just let herself enjoy what was happening.

After their dance ended, Viktor and Harry walked towards them, it looked like they hadn’t gone too far from them. And each boy reclaimed their partner to resume their dancing. Or that was the plan, at least. Harry had plans of his own, it seemed. He asked Fleur if she wanted to take a walk outside, to get some air. She agreed but excused herself for a second while she went looking for her Headmistress.

When she returned to the place where she had left Harry waiting, she found in what could be read as an awkward situation. The Gryffindor boy was talking very animatedly to a redhead. He looked familiar, but Fleur couldn’t remember. Said redhead kept on talking while making gestures at the dancefloor, no doubt upset about something. Fleur took a quick glance at the dancefloor to try and guess what it was all about, but she only saw people having fun. There were students from all three schools, Hermione and Viktor, Ginny dancing with a boy and-

Wait a minute. That shade of red. The exact shade of red of Ginny’s hair colour. It was the same as the one the boy was sporting. The one Harry was talking to. Fleur, in that instant, remembered something Luna had told her. _‘Ron’s sister, redhead.’_ Which in turn made her remember all those time’s that name had been mentioned by Hermione. _Ron_ , so that’s who he was. She remembered him, he was badly affected by her thrall her first night at Hogwarts. Yes, this couldn’t be good. Fleur made her way closer to the two friends.

“Look at her, she’s _fraternizing_ with the enemy.” Ron said to Harry, just as Fleur came close enough to hear clearly. Oh, this wasn’t good at all. She made sure to listen for some context to be sure they were talking about who she thought they were talking about before making her presence known.

“Excuse me,” Fleur said, standing at one side of Harry, “Hi, Harry I’m back.” She was just a little too polite for it to be real. “And you must be _Ron_ , right? I’ve heard so much about you” She went ahead and offered her hand to him. And, be it by the shock or her thrall acting up, the redhead took it without question. Fleur then used this to get a vice grip on him and pull him close, her whole demeanour changing. She spoke to him slowly and clearly.

“Listen. I don’t know what’s going on right now, but I suggest you check yourself before you start something you’ll surely regret. There are no enemies here, not today. But if you do something and ruin this night, I will personally end you.”

She let him go and went back to her previous, too cheery attitude. “Let’s go Harry, I sure need to take a break right now.”

Ron hadn’t moved from the spot Fleur left him in. Being as good as he was, Harry decided to make sure his friend was okay first. “Ron, are you feeling alright?” He asked, concerned.

“Yeah, yeah.” The boy answered. “Just feeling a little tired is all, might head to bed a little early. I’ll see you later.” And with that he scrambled on. Putting as much distance between them as possible.

“Fleur, what did you say to him?” Harry asked as they made their way outside, which didn’t go unnoticed by several of the students around them.

“Nothing.” Fleur said. “’I’ll apologize later.” She could have chosen a kinder way to get her point across, but this was more effective. “I didn’t even _hex_ him” she mumbled, it only got her confused looks from Harry, but she shrugged it off. It was a talk for another day. Tonight was supposed to be fun, and if she had to threaten someone to make sure no one ended up crying, then so be it.

Once they were outside, they fell into a slow pace, walking side by side. Close but not close enough. Fleur pulled out the scarf she had gone to retrieve from her Headmistress and wrapped it around her neck. Harry looked at her with a funny expression.

“What?” she asked, “it’s cold out here.”

“Nothing.” Harry said, still smiling. “Did Hermione give you that?”

“Yes” Fleur admitted, and she _wasn’t_ blushing. “Why do you ask?”

“Oh, nothing, really.” He said, looking away. “It’s just- she’s really protective of her things, y’know? So, it’s weird, that’s all.”

“Don’t get my hopes up” said Fleur, “you know I like her.”

“Oh, yes. I know.” This time Harry was looking at her while he smiled. “I’ve seen the way you look at her.”

Fleur prepared herself for whatever it was Harry was about to tell her. She wasn’t sure if it was going to be particularly bad. But she felt the need to prepare nonetheless.

“And I’ve seen the way she looks at you.” He continued. “What I’m trying to say is, Fleur, I like you, I feel like we can be really good friends. And you make Hermione happy. I you guys ever decide to do something about it, well, I got your back.” They had stopped walking now, nothing but the night sky and them. Fleur stared at Harry for a couple of seconds, registering his words. Then she hugged him.

“Thanks” she said, “although I think that will be up to her.” She took his hand and started leading them back to the castle.

“Yeah, good luck with that. She can be very stubborn.” Harry admitted. “But so can you, you’ll get along just fine.”

Instead of answering, Fleur used her body to push him and try to throw him off balance. He just laughed and dragged her along. They managed to cover most of the way back without actually falling. Fleur only let go of his hand so she could remove the scarf and carry it in her hand instead.

“You know,” she started, “people are going to spread rumours about this. About us.”

“I know,” Harry said, “But I don’t care what people say anymore. We’ll be fine.”

They made their way inside again. Ready to go on with the party.

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next part will be up once I get some sleep and clean the house.  
> Hope you're having a nice day/evening/night  
> Love you all, be safe!


	13. Yule Ball II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “And we are not brooding.” Added Fleur.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: characters aren't mine.

—

People were surely enjoying themselves, as both champions realized once they made their way back towards the Great Hall. The Weird Sisters were rocking on the stage and what had been not too long ago a mildly organized array of couples dancing had become a sea of people moving to the beat of the music. Most of the teachers had opted for staying near the side-lines, keeping an eye out for any teenage drama or whatever trouble that could arise.

Fleur wasn’t sure if she made it consciously, but she found herself scanning the crowd looking for Hermione. She had seen Ron backing away but there was still a possibility that he had come back looking for trouble. Seriously, it was pretty obvious to most people that he harboured a crush on the bushy-haired girl as well, although he wasn’t dealing with his emotions in the best of ways. That was puberty for you, though. Fleur almost felt sympathy for him, giving that she struggled to express herself at times. But there was no need for being as mean as he was behaving.

Harry led her through the crowd, to a more open part of the hall. He wasn’t a fan of crowds himself and wasn’t as eager to jumping right in to dancing again right away. It was fine by Fleur, she wasn’t a people person either. Maybe she could be, but her thrall made it difficult.

“Let’s get some punch.” He said. They ended up hanging by the refreshments table, looking at everyone else who was dancing or wandering about.

“Who else is here that is a friend?” Fleur asked. She wanted to look for Hermione but didn’t want to look _too_ desperate, she didn’t want to leave the Harry alone either. Part of her believed people were not approaching them due to her little scene earlier, and she prided herself in believing that she was guarding the boy from any fan that hoped to rope him into dancing against his will.

“Well, I don’t know how many people you know.” Harry started. “Only fourth years and up could come. Although I think Ginny is here somewhere.”

“Yes, I saw her dancing earlier” said the veela, “I like her, she’s nice.”

Just then, said redhead was detaching herself from the moving crowd of dancing students and making her way towards them.

“Harry, Fleur. Where have you guys been?” she greeted. She sounded a bit out of air, must have been dancing quite a lot. The redhead served herself something to drink.

“I believe Harry and I share a certain _dislike_ for crowds. We went to get some fresh air is all.” Explained Fleur, she was sure that Ginny wouldn’t make a big deal out of it.

“Well, I guess I’ll join you on your brooding then. I want to rest some before going back dancing. Maybe you guys could join us.” Said the redhead excitedly, before turning to look at the crowd.

“I am not much of a dancer, but thanks.” Said Harry, shyly.

“And we are _not_ brooding.” Added Fleur.

“Right, so you’re trying to tell me that none of you are at least a little bummed that both your crushes already had dates?” Teased the Weasley, eyeing her friends.

Fleur was about to go on with her denial, but Harry beat her to it.

“Well,” he started, “I admit I was a bit disappointed. But We’ve been having fun, all of us. And I think that’s what matters, right?” He fixed his hair nervously and looked at Fleur for support.

“Right.” The veela said and smiled. It was true. Had she come with someone else she was sure she would be positively brooding.

“Right.” Said Ginny, not quite convinced.

They stayed there for a little longer, nursing their drinks. Until Fleur started counting the guys that came up to her asking for a dance. She was _not_ in the mood for strangers. Ginny once again invited them over to the dancefloor, saying that they would only be friends there. After weighing her options, Fleur agreed. After all, it was less likely that someone would upfront ask her out if she was in a group of dancing people, and she could always pretend to not hear them over the music.

Both champions followed the redhead to the centre of the crowd and were immediately welcomed into a dancing group. Rox was there, surprisingly, along with Luna and the boy she had seen Ginny dancing with earlier.

“She’ll be right back.” Luna said, having ended up next to the veela.

“Who will?” asked Fleur. But the Ravenclaw only gave her a meaningful look and continued dancing.

It was fairly easy for Fleur to lose herself to the music, she felt safe with her friends and let herself be guided by the beat. The music was so loud at times that she could feel it resonating within her ribcage. It was a nice feeling. She found herself dancing and laughing with everyone else in no time. Goofing around, copying Luna’s dancing moves every now and then. She felt light, and happy. And the music was great. She didn’t say it but she had a liking to the group playing. Only one person in their current group knew about it of course, and she pulled Fleur along to the centre of their small circle when a new song started. It was one of Fleur’s favourites, an upbeat melody great for dancing. She knew the lyrics by heart too, which is how she ended up letting herself dance about and belting the lyrics along with Rox, to the rest of their friends’ amusement. Both girls went on with a semi organized choreography that got all of them laughing and jumping and enjoying themselves even more.

It wasn’t until the song was over, and after Fleur had receded towards the edge of their makeshift circle to give space for whoever wanted to dance next, that she noticed two more people had joined them. Krum was trying his best to be in synch with the music, letting himself be guided by the youngest Weasley. And Hermione was…

“That was a nice number right there.” Right next to her. Of course. Luckily, the light made it harder for anyone to see how red Fleur’s face was getting. She could have sworn she was next to Luna just a moment ago.

“It’s one of my favourite songs,” the veela said, “worth loosing some of my dignity.” She smiled sheepishly at the girl.

“I liked it. Specially when you were twirling around and almost knocked Harry over” It was hard to concentrate on what the girl was saying because of how close they had to be to listen to each other, but Fleur managed.

“Oh gods, did I do that?” Fleur hadn’t even realized, too caught up in the moment as she was. She’d have to apologize to him later, “How much of it did you see?”

“I was here for most of it, it was cute.” Said the Gryffindor. Which was then dragged by a certain redhead to the centre of the group.

“Less _flirting_. More dancing.” Ginny said. Although not loud enough for everyone to hear.

And dance they did. They danced until they lost track of time, and their feet hurt, and then they dance some more. At some point Harry had bid them all goodbye. Then Viktor. They lost track of Rox and Luna. And Ginny went off with her date to dance with some more of their friends. It was only Fleur and Hermione now. Fleur was trying her best not to smile too much, she was certain she looked like a lovesick fool, but the fun had gotten to her. She was too tired to pretend now, she let herself be for a moment. The night was too good for holding back, after all. And Hermione’s smile was worth it.

At some point, Fleur felt brave enough to grab Hermione’s hand on her own and pull her closer. They started dancing together while smiling or making faces at each other, keeping the mood light and fun. Fleur couldn’t have been happier. If she was feeling light before, now she was filled with excitement. Nothing else existed but them, and the music. Their eyes were trained on each other except for when one of them twirled around, they were so lost in each other that they couldn’t hear the conversation about them that was taking place not too far from where they were dancing.

Rox, Ginny and Luna, drinks in hand, were watching them. Having all three of them gotten tired from dancing.

“Do you think something will happen tonight?” Asked the redhead. She was looking intently at the pair.

“Knowing Fleur, we’ll get lucky if they hug.” Said Roxanne, casually.

“So much is already happening.” Said the Ravenclaw, looking elsewhere. The other two silently agreed and moved along, some of them back to dancing, other to retire for the night.

So caught up in their own world, Fleur pulled her companion closer to her just in time with the music stopping completely. They stood still, facing each other, hearing whoever was on the microphone announce that they would play one last slow song before it all ended. What had been a light moment downed heavily on Fleur in an instant. She got nervous, and her palms were starting to get sweaty. But she couldn’t tear her eyes away just yet. _Maybe I should ask her to dance_ , she thought. But her throat closed up, she couldn’t get any word out. The dim lights were brighter now, and she got a full view of just how wonderful Hermione looked. Even if her hair was not all tight up now and she was breathing heavily, she still took Fleur’s breath away.

She took her hand away, self-consciously, and put some distance between them. Not many people were left, and it would bring attention to them if they were to actually dance together right now. Fleur was used to living being the subject of gossip and drama, but she wanted to avoid bringing Hermione down with her if she could. The Gryffindor sensed that something was off and didn’t push her. After quickly scanning the people around them, she collected herself and motioned for the veela to come along.

Fleur followed her until they were out in the grounds, and even more after that, she welcomed the cold air for a moment, it felt nice after all the dancing they’d done. She expected Hermione to say something, having been the one who brought them here, but she kept walking in silence. Eventually they made their way to a secluded bench, in a part Fleur had never been to. It didn’t surprise her, given that the school was huge, with parts of it everchanging, she just hoped she didn’t have to make her way back on her own for fear of getting lost.

They sat next too each other. Hermione was looking up into the night sky, Fleur could see some constellations reflected on the girl’s eyes if she focused enough. She kept to herself, giving the other girl as much time as needed. After a while though, the cold got to her, and she tried as quietly as possible to put the scarf back on. Trying her best not to bother the brunette’s musings.

“Hey, that’s my scarf” Said Hermione. Fleur sighed, her plan failed.

“I hope you have more of these because I won’t be giving it back anytime soon.” She exclaimed, pulling the garment even closer to her.

“It’s okay. I do have a spare, it’s just-“Hermione seemed to be thinking her words over. “I’ve never seen you wear it.” She was lightly blushing now. Could it be that she was as insecure as Fleur herself felt? Maybe so.

“Yes, well.” Fleur felt the need to explain her actions. “I’ve heard the gossip about Harry. I didn’t want to add fire to the flame by wearing this everywhere.” She always kept it hidden in her bag, like a good luck charm, but she wasn’t about to tell Hermione that. She had managed to not make a fool of herself just yet.

“I see, that’s very thoughtful of you.” Commented the Gryffindor. “Although, after today I don’t think it will matter. People were already talking when you went outside with Harry.” She sounded troubled about it, perhaps worried for her friend.

“Then I shall wear it proudly.” Proclaimed Fleur, confidently. Hermione smiled at that. “Will Viktor be okay? I was serious about decking anyone who bothered him.” And he sat at the Slytherin table too. She wasn’t sure how strict his Headmaster was about their seats but by the look of it, he wouldn’t be happy if his champion went up and sat with the ‘competition’.

“I think he’ll be fine. Not many people talk to him anyway. They just stare at him.” Said Hermione, then she laughed. “I would pay to see you deck any of them, though. I can’t picture you actually doing it.”

“Do you doubt my abilities, Hermione?” Fleur asked, jokingly, “Did you not see me lift Harry up?” If anyone wanted a demonstration, she would prove herself gladly.

“It’s not that.” Said the girl. “It doesn’t sound like your thing, is all.”

“Ah, you got me there.” Admitted Fleur, “I am quite fond of the _hexing_ , it is easier to get away with. But direct action is best for making a statement.”

“Interesting.” Was all Hermione said in response, she got a pensive look on her face.

“Will you ever tell me what you think about when you make that face?” Asked Fleur, half-joking. She was fine with just watching Hermione thinking, but it would be nice to know what said thinking was about every now and then.

Hermione didn’t answer right away. And for a moment Fleur thought she might actually share something with her. But the girl only smirked and got closer to the veela.

“Maybe one day,” she said, “Do you know the constellations?” It was an obvious change in conversation, but Fleur let it slide. She could wait for Hermione, however long it took.

“And the myths behind them too, would you like to hear some?” It was one of Fleur’s favourite subjects, she couldn’t help but offer. That and Hermione had casually taken Fleur’s hand, the veela had to keep herself from offering anything else. She wasn’t willing to admit just how much she was willing to do for this girl.

“Yes, I’d like that.” Hermione pointed to a random point in the sky with her free hand, and Fleur proceeded to point out any particular constellation that was in that area and its story, along with some commentary from her part. They stayed that way for a while, at some point Hermione laid her head on the veela’s shoulder. And Fleur concluded that it was certainly better than dancing under the judging gazes of people.

The passing of time had lost all importance, it was only when Hermione let out a yawn, almost falling asleep curled up to Fleur, that they decided it was time for them to leave. Chivalrous as ever, the Gryffindor escorted Fleur all the way back to the carriage, with the excuse of waking herself up some as to not loose her way while navigating the various halls of the castle. Fleur appreciated any extra moments they spent together.

“What did you and Harry talk about?” asked Hermione.

“Oh,” right, “You know… stuff.” Fleur couldn’t think of a good excuse. And somehow, answering _‘we talked about how much I like you’_ didn’t sound like the best choice.

“Right,” the Gryffindor was unimpressed, “did you ask him for the autograph Gabrielle’s been nagging you about?”

“Non,” said Fleur, she hadn’t forgotten about that. “I didn’t think it was the right time.”

“How so?” she didn’t sound like she disagreed with the veela. Fleur had the feeling this question was about more than just the autograph.

“I’d hate to remind him how the world sees him. He’s just a teenager. And we were having so much fun, I didn’t want to spoil that for him.” Fleur decided to go with the truth.

Hermione hummed, thinking. “Good answer.” It seemed like that was it, but then the girl added, quietly, “You’re just a teenager too, Fleur, keep that in mind.”

They kept walking in silence until they were outside of the carriage. Fleur turned to face Hermione.

“This was fun.” She said, Hermione nodded.

“Yes,” there she was, thinking her words through again, “not just the Ball. _This_ ” she said, gesturing to both of them, “too. Maybe we could do it again some time?”

“I’d love to.” Said Fleur.

“Great, I can’t promise to fix my hair again any time soon though. Too much work.” Hermione made a face at that.

“If I’m being honest,” said Fleur, standing closer to the girl, “I like your normal hair better, but this was a nice change.” If Fleur was being honest with herself, Hermione could show up in the thrashiest clothes, hair barely brushed, and she would still be as beautiful. Before the Gryffindor could say anything else, Fleur gave her a light kiss on the cheek. Then she quickly made her way inside of the carriage quick a quick “have a good night, Hermione.”

As tired as she was, her heart was beating faster than ever after that. The carriage was dark, and she quietly made her way upstairs to her room. She debated if knocking on Rox’s door to talk would be a good idea, but decided it was better not to. She was, most likely, already asleep, and Fleur _was_ tired. They could talk about everything in the morning.

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen, I know I'm writing this from Fleur's perspective which is why I'm writing this here instead of up there. But I'd like to think Hermione stood outside the carriage for a good five mins after Fleur left. And then had a chat with Ginny when she got to the common room.  
> That's all I'm saying for now.  
> Hope you have a nice day/evening/night.  
> Talk to you later (!)


	14. Gossip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Excuse me” Fleur said, faking politeness. “But you are in the way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I'm sorry.  
> Characters don't belong to me.

—

Fleur did her best to keep her cool as soon as she stepped outside the carriage. On her way to the Great Hall for breakfast she noticed how people would stare at her and whisper among themselves. She was used to the attention, and the gossip, but seeing how they were treating _her_ made her fear for what her friends were going through.

“Looks like they don’t have anything better to talk about, so boring” commented Rox as they made their way inside the castle. On the outside, both French students looked aloof as ever, but Fleur knew that if anyone were to approach them or step out of line, she would have to contain her friend. Rox was rather physical when it came to arguments, and it would do them no good to have an audience for something like that.

“I’d prefer it if we sit with Luna today. Don’t you think?” suggested the veela, trying to distract her friend from giving death stares at any person who looked at them for too long.

“Good thinking. Now, where is she?”

They stopped at the entrance to try and locate the blonde girl from afar. They only managed to find her once they heard people laughing loudly and turned to see what it was about. Luna was sitting at the Gryffindor table next to Ginny and Harry, and some other people they couldn’t see from that far away. What Fleur could see was the group of students dressed in green that were laughing next to Harry while making comments Fleur was glad she wasn’t picking up or else.

“What now?” Asked Roxanne.

“Come” said Fleur as she started walking. “Madame gave us no rules as to where we could sit, now, did she?”

As calmly as possible, they made their way to where their new friends were. Fleur spotted Viktor sitting at the Slythering table, quietly eating his breakfast and not looking at anybody. He must have felt her staring, he looked up and shot her a timid smile, Fleur smiled kindly to him as a way of greeting, fast enough so no other student would catch them, or so she thought. She was right next to some blond boy now, he was familiar, but she couldn’t recall from where.

“Are this people bothering you, Harry?” said Fleur, as naively as she could muster. She knew exactly what was going on, but she wanted to have a little fun.

“Well-“ Harry started, but was soon interrupted by the blond student.

“Great, Potter, you _girlfriend’s_ here to save you. Need a woman to protect you now, I see.” The other students gathered around him snickered at his words and echoed them between themselves. Fleur struggled not to roll her eyes at this.

“Or maybe she’s just here for that bookworm over there. I don’t know what Krum could see in a _mudblood_.”

The memory came flashing back to Fleur in an instant. He was the one who had cast the spell that made Hermione cry. She also saw the girl sitting right beside Harry, looking uninterested, but Fleur could see in her eyes that she was listening. She had had enough.

“ _Excuse_ me” Fleur said, faking politeness. “But you are in the way.”

The boy looked ready to make another comment, but Fleur was in front of him in an instant, gone was her kind demeanour and her thrall managed to transmit an air of coldness and fear so suddenly that most of the people standing took a step back, away from her. She hated doing this, really, it added to the exclusion of her kind by pining them as manipulative, fearful creatures. But this time, she though it was worth it as she saw the boy freeze on his spot, as she saw the fear growing in his eyes.

“I assume you have better things to do with your time than paying such detailed attention to someone you claim to hate. I suggest you leave.” She spoke low enough not to gather a crowd, but she might have overdone it on the thrall a little bit. It was out of her control, after all. The boy was so fear stricken that he missed her warning.

“What?” He asked, stiffly, as if he found it hard to even move his lips.

Fleur sighed at this, trying to reign in her thrall so the boy could manage to make conscious decisions now. She expected this type of thing to happen, but not so early in the morning that she hadn’t had any coffee yet. She was cranky, to say the least.

“Leave.” She repeated, as a flock of birds flung out of nowhere and rounded of the remaining Slytherins along with the blond boy, who finally came to his senses and scurried away.

Quiet. It seemed as if everyone who had witnessed the exchange was scared of doing anything that could upset the champion even further, while some were still trying to understand what had just happened. The two Beauxbatons students were unbothered.

“There’s some seats over there” Pointed Rox, and the pair made their way to the table. Fleur sat next to Hermione, while Rox took a seat in between Ginny and Luna, opposite to her.

“What was that?” asked Ginny, overcoming the shock before any of the others.

“Yes, good morning to you too.” Said Rox, while serving some food on her plate. Fleur found herself some coffee and just stared at them.

“A’ight, g’morning, how do you do?” said the redhead, “now what was all that about?”

“I just asked him to leave, that’s all.” Fleur said, not even looking up as she gathered food on her plate.

“Yes, but-“ Ginny was interrupted by Luna, who was eating while reading a magazine and didn’t even look up as she spoke.

“Fleur, how’s Gabrielle?” The Ravenclaw asked, changing the topic.

“She’s fine. Still sleeping. I’ll get some food back to her.” Answered the veela, she thought it best to save her little sister the trouble of drama for the time being. She looked at everyone at the table, they seemed to be eating peacefully, except for Ginny who was in a hushed argument with Rox, and Harry who was looking at her like he knew something. She stared at him quizzically while sipping her coffee.

“You know,” he started, “I think I’ve seen that hex before”

“It’s a fairly popular one.” She defended. _Great_ , she thought, he figured her out, he must remember the time with the boy and the hexes and the crying too.

“Yeah, back in _France_ it is,” said Rox, “I haven’t seen anyone here using it.”

Fleur shot her a look. She wasn’t helping, or perhaps she found it amusing that Harry was catching up to her.

“It’s impressive, I’d say.” Commented Hermione, who so far had only focused on her meal, “Could you teach me how to do it?” She looked expectantly at Fleur, and the veela had to do a double take to check that her heart was still beating. Back was the bushy hair, added to some dark bags under her eyes from staying up so late, and the girl had somehow already managed to get ink stains on her cheeks somehow. She looked positively beautiful.

“Sure.” Fleur said, “I’m free when you are.”

“Great.” Hermione was smiling at her now. And if Fleur had been cold before, she sure felt heat rising to her cheeks now.

Fleur spotted a magazine sitting on the table in between plates of food. She went to pick it up, curious as to what it was about. But she felt a hand over her own. She looked up to see Hermione looking at her with a pleading look on her face.

“Nothing good to read there,” said Harry, “unless you like gossip.”

Rox coughed at that, and the attention shifted to her. “As if” she said, “we get enough of it back at school now, don’t we?”

“Yes, we do.” Fleur said, remembering all the mean things people have said about her just because they’re jealous of her and what she can do, blaming it on her blood. She hadn’t noticed that she was lost in though until she felt someone squeezing her hand. Hermione was still holding on to her. Fleur decided to leave her hormonal mess at the back of her mind and do a quick mood check on the group. No doubt the gossip would be about them, with them being the champions and the way the Ball went. She was used to this, but she knew that most of them were not.

“And it’s not even good gossip” said Ginny, trying to lighten the mood.

“What’s it about?” Asked Rox, if anything, just to keep the conversation going.

“Rox, we don’t need to know” Said the veela, “it’s always the same. People can be so uncreative.” She added a sigh for good measure, not wanting to give those around her the satisfaction of her interest.

“They think I charmed my way into the champions’ hearts.” Hermione said, angrily. _Champions_ , in plural, Fleur noted. This was not good.  “As if I need a potion to make someone like me.” The Gryffindor girl added in a whisper, voice so low Fleur was not sure if she had heard right.

“Well, that’s just the laziest kind of story there is.” Rox said. Fleur could almost feel her friends agitated state, but she was impressed at how she managed to not scream at everyone about the absurdity of their means of entertainment. “People have _died_ in this competition before and everything they can talk about is who’s shagging who.” Her friend huffed before going to stab her food with a fork. Everyone seemed to agree with her.

“People get so bored with their lives they make up stories about others to cope.” Said Luna, with such disinterest that Fleur wondered if the girl had more experience with this kind of things than her Gryffindor friends. After all, she was always alone at her own table.

“And they can say the silliest things based on nothing. It’s kind of amusing the lengths they will go to.” Said Ginny.

“They might even start pining you with Viktor because you’re not actively trying to kill him anymore.” Said Harry, looking sideways at Fleur.

“I was _never_ trying to kill him.” Said the veela. Even if she _had_ considered the boy her rival for a while, she’d rather people not catch up to that part just yet. “We just didn’t get along that well at the start, that’s all.”

“Besides, people can think whatever they want. I know where my heart is.” She added with finality. She didn’t risk glancing at the brunette sitting beside her. But looking up she saw all her friends looking at her with little smirks on their faces and glancing at the oblivious brunette beside her. She couldn’t help but blush a little and shot each of them a look.

“Fleur’s right.” Said Hermione while looking up from her food, and their friends scrambled to look somewhere else as if they weren’t silently teasing Fleur about her crush.

“Are we still going to the quidditch field after this?” asked Luna, as if she hadn’t heard a thing of the previous conversation.

“Yeah, it’d be nice to get away from all this.” Said Ginny, then looked at Rox. “If you guys want to come with, you can borrow some brooms or watch from the seats like ‘Mione.”

“We can fly alright,” said Rox, “Fleur’s half bird after all.” She looked at her friend smiling, they were both in Beauxbatons’ quidditch team, this could be fun.

“Well” Fleur said, even if she was hoping to sit with Hermione for a bit longer, “I do have to stretch my wings.”

—

After they finished eating, both French students went back to their carriage to change into they quidditch uniform and to retrieve their brooms. They had brought them in hopes of flying around the school some day when Madam wasn’t looking. Gabrielle was still sleeping so Fleur left her food at the bedside table with a note.

Ginny and Hermione had offered to go with them so they wouldn’t get lost on their way to the quidditch pitch, and they were waiting for them outside.  Rox and Ginny were talking about their favourite quidditch players while they lead the way, and Fleur was doing her best at looking casual while walking besides Hermione. The brunette seemed lost in thought, so Fleur opted to remain quiet.

“You know” Hermione finally said, “it’s not just that that hex you used is not popular here. It’s that they don’t _teach_ it here.” She looked at the veela with a glint in her eyes and a smirk. Although Fleur wasn’t sure what it meant.

“Maybe not in any of the classes you’ve taken.” The veela argued.

“No, it’s not that.” Hermione stopped walking and looked at her companion. “It’s that, when I _first_ saw that hex I tried looking for it in the library, to see how it was done and who could cast it. And I couldn’t find it anywhere.”

Fleur was left speechless at that. So, she _had_ seen it back then, and now she _knew_ it had been Fleur all along. The only thing left to question was, how did Hermione feel about it?

While Fleur was trying to think of an excuse, or anything to say. She found herself getting hugged by the Gryffindor. A whispered ‘thank you’ in her ear, and then the brunette was going a different way.

“This is the way to the seats, have a fun flight.” The girl told her, and then she was gone.

“I will.” Fleur said, not sure if the girl was still listening. It took her a moment to process what had happened, but she couldn’t wipe the smile off her face after that.

—


	15. Feathers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It’s a little bit of a party trick, to be honest.” Admitted the veela.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters don't belong to me and all that.

—

_Flying_. It was easy for her. Even if she hadn’t practiced since she came to Scotland, there was no way Fleur could forget how to do it. For a moment she wondered how her school was doing, since she was the Seeker on their quidditch team, and some of the girls she came with were part of the team as well.

As soon as they took off to the sky, she could already feel her mood improving even more from this morning. She wouldn’t show it, but the part-veela was ready to hex anyone who said dares to spread tasteless rumours about her new friends, _especially_ Hermione. She could only imagine what people would throw at them now, she wanted to protect them. After all, they were all still young, younger than her at least. She was used to a life on the spotlight, since her blood gave her such a nice thrall to cope with, but they were different, this was still new for them. Even if she was sure that Harry would have to get used to it eventually, and probably Hermione too given their close relationship. But now was not the time for thinking, Fleur left her worries down on the ground and welcomed the cold breeze as she moved effortlessly with her broom.

“How about a friendly match, two against two, see which school is best?” said Ginny when the four of them met at the centre of the field. From the corner of her eyes Fleur could see Hermione and Luna chatting away. Then she turned to Rox, who was looking at her with a barely concealed grin.

“I don’t know, Fleur? That might be too easy for us.” Sure, it was a lie, as none of them knew the extent of the Gryffindors’ skills, but it served well to hurt their egos, rile them up before they start.

“Don’t underestimate them, Rox.” Fleur said, smiling. “Besides, I need you with me for damage control.”

“Right, right, here to pick up your feathers, as always.” She bumped her shoulder, careful not to make her loose balance, and then they both looked at their companions.

“What do you mean by _damage control_?” asked a very curious redhead.

“Nothing dangerous, just a veela thing.” Fleur said, “shall we?”

“Sure, let’s go.” Said Harry, and the four of them began playing what could be considered a friendly match, just trying to score points and make the other team lose their concentration. No one was taking it too seriously though, they stopped to chat and joke around when they felt like it.

During the whole ordeal, Fleur kept stealing glances at Hermione, who seemed to be watching intently at times and then turning to talk the their Ravenclaw friend. She was watching the bushy haired girl when she noticed Harry flying towards her, he stopped a few ways away from her.

“You know,” he said, motioning to the two girls chatting at the stands, “usually ‘Mione just sits there reading.”

“Hmm?” said the Beauxbatons´ champion, unsure of where he was going with this.

“What I mean to say is” the boy explained, “I think she’s looking at _you_.” He then smirked at Fleur and waited for his words to register in her mind. Soon the French student sported a light blush on her cheeks. Harry just smiled at her and took off. No one was keeping track of the score anyways.

Fleur kept levitating in place for a moment, suddenly unable to look at the Gryffindor girl who was most likely watching her every move, and very aware of everything she was doing and feeling. It wasn’t until she saw her best friend approaching that she managed to control her nerves.

“What’s the matter, scared of making a fool of yourself?” Taunted Rox, smirking.

“Of course not.” Replied the veela, who then flew in a random direction, eager to feel the rush of flying and hoping the cold wind would help her cool down. She sensed someone behind her and soon enough her best friend was flying by her side. “I wasn’t aware that she was watching _me_ , that’s all.”

“Then, wouldn’t you think this is a fine time to show off?” said her friend, “Charm the girl with some of you bird-skills and what-not.” They slowed down and her friend did a complete pirouette in the air. “You know what I’m talking about.” She ended her statement with a wink.

Fleur was thinking about it, _really_ thinking about it. “You don’t think that’ll make me look a bit, uhm, _too full of myself_?” she didn’t want to lose the progress she’d made with Hermione, and everyone else for that matter.

“Relax” said her friend, “I’m sure they don’t think that about you.” She patted her friend in passing. “Even if it _is_ true.” She was laughing now, as Fleur let out a grunt and went to chase her friend. “Race you to the top!” And with that both girls went on a race across the field, the game long forgotten.

They passed their Gryffindor friends as they were making a full lap of the field before moving upwards. The speed they were going at was enough to make Ginny move backwards as they passed, she looked curiously at Harry, who just shrugged and focused his attention on the blue uniformed girls who were going farther up now, right at the centre of the field. Hermione and Luna weren’t talking anymore, instead looking ahead and wondering what the foreign students were planning.

At some point, Rox stayed behind, and that was enough indication for Fleur that she must be way up high in the air now, she knew what she had to do. Savouring the solitude up in the air for a moment as she continued her vertical path at break-neck speed, she took a deep breath before opening her eyes. Slowing down, she was looking up, and just before her broom stopped completely, she let it drop below her.

Making a turn mid-air, time seemed to stop for Fleur.

Flying with a broom was nice, she liked doing it at school to get away from all the people. But flying _without_ a broom was a different thing altogether. Without the extra support, the veela felt the adrenaline rush through her as she let her body fall back, gaining speed as she went. She felt a familiar prickling at the back of her neck and shoulders and felt herself smiling. She missed this, even if she wasn’t allowed to fully transform at school unless completely necessary, this was enough for her. She could feel her senses getting sharper, which made it possible for her to feel the stares of her friends from below, she also heard a gasp, and even if in her mind she knew that it was Hermione’s and that the girl was well away from her, she could almost swear she heard it whispered in her ear.

The floor was coming closer by the second, and she was thankful that her friend knew the exact moment to throw her the broom so she could grab it again. Missing the ground by a few meters, she redirected herself and made a big circle to ease her way into a full stop.

Now that her broom was safely secured below her, she took deep breaths to calm herself down, willing her transformation to stop, and enchanted the air around her so her falling feathers would stand floating across the field. She did this more out of politeness, really, not willing to leave a mess in the field if she could help it.

Fleur felt calmer now, if only a bit tired from flying, but she felt lighter, somehow. It was fun, she hadn’t had fun like that in a while. Rox was idly floating around, making sure they wouldn’t make a mess, and Harry and Ginny were flying towards her.

“I didn’t know you could do that” Said the redhead, bluntly. Harry nodding along.

“It’s a little bit of a party trick, to be honest.” Admitted the veela. “Beauxbatons, as you know, is all about the _theatrics._ ” She gave a small bow to emphasize her point. “I do it because I like the feeling, but my friends found me and said it looked really pretty, so Rox helped me practice to… _show-off_ , as she put it.” She scratched the back of her neck, waiting for her friends to say anything, and checking if she had any feathers left there, although she was certain they had all come off on her way down.

“It looked really pretty, alright, just don’t let it get to your head.” Praised Ginny with a grin. Harry just stared around them curiously before speaking.

“Fleur, are these all your feathers?” He asked with curiosity.

“ _Oui.”_ Answered the veela, silently pleading for the boy to leave it at that. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to be interrogated about her heritage right about now.

“They’re really pretty.” Was all the boy had to say.

“Thank you, Harry.” She had a feeling that was not all he wanted to say, but she was thankful that he kept it for later.

“How about we head back now? I’m sure ‘Mione’s dying to ask you about _this_. And I have a few errands to run before lunch.” Proclaimed the read-headed girl.

Fleur sighed, thanking the girl for the change of topic. Even if she sent a wink her way when she mentioned Hermione. She could deal with their teasing; she had been dealing with worse from Roxanne since the beginning of the school year, and it was a relief to know that Hermione’s friends were not bothered by the fact that she fancied her. Well, most of them anyway.

Back on the ground, both her and Harry were a little behind the others on their way back. And at that moment Fleur thought it appropriate to ask something that might be too risky to bring up anywhere else.

“Harry,” she said, stopping the boy on his tracks, “how are you doing with the egg?” she placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled, making herself look as friendly as possible. She knew it was in poor taste to ruin such a fun day with thoughts of the Tournament, but she wasn’t sure if they would have the time to talk once classes started again. And, in her mind, the sooner she made sure he at least knew what was coming, the better.

Harry just stared at her, mulling over things in his mind, before he let out a long sigh and answered her question with one of his own. “Hermione asked you to do this? I know she means well, but I can’t figure it out and it makes me more anxious every time she ask me about it.”

That was not something Fleur expected, she made to let her intentions be as clear as possible, “Non, she hasn’t mentioned anything to me. I just wanted to know how you were doing.” She gave him a soft look for a moment. “Something tells me you are not doing very well, right? Perhaps I could help.”

Harry looked at her curiously again, searching for something, but Fleur wasn’t sure what. “That means you solved it already?”

Before she had time to answer, something was thrown on top of her. She felt the little tingles of her own feathers grazing her skin and getting tangled in her hair. They had made it back to where Luna and Hermione were waiting for them. And Rox, who had been so kind as to collect all her feathers, had decided to drop them on top of their owner.

“Thanks, Rox.” She plucked a feather out of her hair and stuck her tongue out to her snickering friend, “What would I do without you?”

“Clean your own mess for once, that’s what.” The French student answered happily. “How did you like the show?” she was talking to the grounded part of their group now.

“It was delightful,” answered Luna, “I especially liked the part when you went and scored ten more points while everyone was distracted.” This caused Ginny and Harry to look at the other French student with them.

“You really did that?” “No fair.” They exclaimed in unison.

While everyone was ganging up on her friend, Fleur occupied herself with untangling the feathers from her head. She noticed Hermione approaching an offered one of her own feathers to her.

“Thanks” the brunette said, analysing the feather she now had in between her fingers. “I have questions, but I’m not sure if it’ll be polite to ask them.

“Veela are quite secretive creatures,” admitted Fleur, “but I’m sure I can do something to ease your curiosity” she aimed a shy smile towards the Gryffindor.

“You don’t have to do that, you know.” Said the girl, “I can understand if it’s private.”

“Non, it is okay. I’d like to know what your questions are.” Said the veela, sincerely. “Perhaps we could go somewhere more private to talk?” She sounded hopeful.

“Sure thing.” Answered Hermione with a toothy smile.

Fleur just stood there, staring at the other girl. Unwilling to break this moment between them. Lucky for her, it was someone else who did it for her. Rox patted her on the back to get her attention.

“If you don’t mind vanishing all of this, I’ll go back to the carriage now. I’m sure Gabrielle will like to know what we were doing.” She winked at the veela, indicating that she was free to go with Hermione.

“Sounds fine to me,” with a flick of her wand, all her feathers were gone. Except for the one Hermione still had with her. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Luna and I’ll go check this new thing at the, uuh, what was that about again?” Said Ginny.

“Well test my theory on where the nargles keep hiding my stuff before I need it for classes.” Said the blonde.

“Right. That, so well be off now. Bye.” With that the two girls made their exit, along with Rox.

“Guess I’ll check on Ron, he wasn’t at breakfast this morning.” Said Harry. The mention of his redheaded friend brought Fleur memories from their exchange at the Ball. She felt bad about being the cause of his distress, but she didn’t regret doing it.

Before Harry could turn to leave, Fleur grabbed his arm to stop him. “Harry, about the egg.” She said, “I took a bath with it, maybe that could help you as well.”

If he was confused about what she told him, he didn’t show it. He only nodded and headed back towards the castle.

Fleur turned towards Hermione, who was waiting patiently for her.

“You didn’t tell Harry about how I solved the egg?” Fleur asked.

“Of course not. It wasn’t my place to do it.” Hermione answered, convinced. Then led the veela for a walk.

“That’s… very thoughtful of you. Thank you.” Fleur was touched, even if she wouldn’t have been mad about Hermione telling Harry, it was nice to know that the girl respected her secrets.

“It’s no problem.” The bushy-haired girl assured her. Then lifted the feather she still had to eye level. “Now. About _this_.”

“Yes, you have questions. Let’s go.”

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll try to update when I can, but school is taking a lot of my free time at the moment. Rest assure I won't let this go unfinished.  
> How have you all been lately?  
> I hope you're good.


	16. Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “wait a second, are you flirting with me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long  
> anw characters aren't mine

—

“I’m gonna start with something I’ve been thinking about for a while, it’s alright if you don’t answer me though”

They had settled down beneath a tree by the lake, sitting face to face. Fleur was trying to school her expression and stop her mind from wandering off. Even if Hermione was the best thing that had happened to her recently, there were certain things that she couldn’t tell her. Her Grandmother would have her head if she found out she spilled their secrets to a crush _without_ even securing an official date first.

“That’s fine by me” said the veela, relaxing her shoulders a little.

“Okay, so,” Hermione started “the other day you said magical creatures don’t need a wand to use magic, yet you use one, why?” she was toying with Fleur’s feather, rolling it with her fingertips this way and the other, she looked curiously at Fleur, waiting for an answer.

“I am only half Veela, it’ll take a while before I reach that kind of control. Perhaps when I’m older I’ll be able to do all magic without my wand” It was the truth, she wasn’t about to explain the details about the differences between her diluted blood from a full veela, she couldn’t, not yet.

“What do you mean by all magic?” Asked Hermione, looking curiously at Fleur with her head slightly tilted to one side.

Fleur sighed, thinking of a way to explain herself without giving out too much information, “What you saw earlier at the quidditch pitch, it was also magic, but I’ve never needed a wand for that” she shrugged her shoulders, thinking of the many books her mother had given her about veela, once her thrall started acting up.

“Is your thrall like that too? How does it work?” It seemed Hermione had no control over her mouth once she was curious about something, she looked the slightest bit apologetic about her eagerness to learn. Fleur spared a second to wonder how the girl in front of her had to have been treated to look embarrassed about _learning_ of all things, she found it endearing herself. If only _she_ wasn’t the topic of conversation. She wasn’t uncomfortable, she trusted Hermione, she only wished she could tell her more.

“In a way yes” said Fleur, “I can’t control my thrall though”

“But you used it on Malfoy earlier, at least that’s what it looked like” Hermione looked pensive, and Fleur could see it in her eyes, she could almost see her mind working and coming up with theories about what had happened.

“Strong emotions can influence it, but I can’t quite control its… how could I put it? Its power, I guess. It’s kind of a mess, really. I try to leave it alone most of the time.” Fleur was having trouble censoring her words, keeping her answers short. If she could, she would tell Hermione everything, but it wasn’t the time.

“I see” said Hermione, distracted. Fleur could see that they were at arm’s length, but the girl felt far away from her. The veela could see how her friend went deeper into her own thoughts. She stared at the bushy-haired girl for a while in silence.

Hermione was mulling over everything in her head, while absentmindedly moving her hand around, the feather Fleur had given her following the movements. She brought her hand up to her chin and Fleur’s feather tickled her skin, that seemed to cut Hermione off from her train of though. She brought the feather up to eye level and inspected it closely, as if it held answers to questions she hadn’t voiced yet. She looked at the feather, then at Fleur, and then she spoke.

“Does it hurt?” She asked.

Fleur was caught off-guard, “Does what hurt?”

“Growing feathers” was all the explanation the Gryffindor girl offered.

Fleur smiled, she could answer this, “Not really, it starts like a prickling at the back of my neck, but that’s all. The rest though, that takes some time to get used to.”

“The rest? You mean… if you fully transformed?”

“Yes” answered Fleur, plainly, “but I can’t tell you much about that, it’s supposed to be a secret.”

“I understand” Assured Hermione, she looked a little embarrassed as she continued speaking. “there’s not much information about veela around here, I tried looking for something when I first met you but I came up empty” She smiled, shyly, at Fleur.

 Fleur couldn’t help but smile back at her.

“Well,” she said, “when books fail, it can also work to learn by practice. Maybe if you stay close you could learn a thing or two about veelas, don’t you think? Sort of like a field investigation.” Fleur wasn’t sure of where this courage was coming from. On the inside she was slightly panicking but she had to admit that she felt more comfortable with Hermione now. The more they talked, the more she felt at ease with the girl.

“Yeah, I guess that could work” Hermione laughed, and Fleur felt her heart do a somersault inside her. It was a beautiful day and nothing could make her worry.

Hermione froze then, and blinked a couple of times, she looked at fleur and asked, in the most curious voice Fleur had heard from her, “wait a second, are you flirting with me?”

For a second, Fleur wished veelas had the power to turn invisible. She considered the question and the way her answer could be taken. She looked at Hermione’s eyes and what she saw calmed her instantly. There was no disgust, no anger, no ill-placed emotion in those chocolate brown eyes, just plain curiosity, and maybe something else, but Fleur couldn’t tell what. She took a deep breath.

“Well, I have been for the past months but I’m glad you figured it out.” Fleur smiled and tried not to mind the blush she could feel rising on her cheeks. She could see a small blush adorning Hermione’s cheeks now, as she looked away from Fleur.

“I had my suspicions” she said, “but I wanted to hear it from you” She played with the feather in her hands, “I didn’t think it was real”

This cleared Fleur’s mind for a moment, “why would you think that?”

“Well, I…” Hermione paused for a second, “it’s not everyday that someone like you pays attention to someone like me, at first I thought it was all in my head” she glanced at Fleur before looking at down, at the feather she still held tightly.

“oh, dear” Fleur whispered. Hermione was still looking down, and Fleur managed to scoot closer without making any noise. She slowly took Hermione’s hands in her own, making sure her feather wouldn’t fall to the ground. Hermione looked up at her, and they stared at each other for a second.

“Would you believe me if I tell you” Fleur started, “that I felt the same way about you?”

Hemione blinked and stared at her, “really?” she asked.

“It’s true” Fleur said, “you can ask anyone if you want, I thought you’d never spare me a glance. My looks can compete with those books you’re always reading” She laughed, hoping to ease the tension a bit. Hermione laughed. _Good_ , Fleur thought, this was good.

“I- wait, everyone else knew about it?” Hermione was smiling now.

“Yes” she admitted, “I am, as Luna put it, not very subtle” both giggled at this.

“She has a point” Hermione said, she then looked at their entwined hands, and the blue feather still there. She disentangled one of her hands and lifted the feather between both of their faces.

“Say, would you mind if I turned this into a quill?”

“I would be honoured” Fleur answered, “I’m sure you’ll put it to good use”

“I’ll definitely try my best” the Gryffindor girl said. Then a thought struck her, she took her other hand away from Fleur’s and managed to make some space between them. A frown adorned her face. Fleur feared the worst.

“Fleur, I’m not sure if I’m ready for a relationship right now” admitted the girl “with the tournament and Harry and you leaving for France after the school ends and-“

“I know” Fleur managed to say loud enough to get her attention “Hermione, I’m not expecting anything from you, whatever you feel comfortable with is fine” she paused, for a second, “honestly just being friends is pretty great” she smiled, truthfully, at the girl in front of her.

Hermione looked at her for a few seconds, and to Fleur they felt like minutes, but it was okay. It was Hermione, she trusted her. “Friends” the girl finally said, “I can do that, yeah” she directed a toothy grin at Fleur and offered her hand, “friends?” she asked.

Fleur shacked the girl’s hand, it was warm and soft, “friends” she replied.

“For now, at least,” Hermione added, and before Fleur could fully process her words, she secured Fleur’s hand in her own and pulled so their face were inches from each other. “But if we are to be friends, there is something that you have to do.”

Fleur gulped, there was mischief in the other witch’s eyes. “And what would that be?” she asked.

“Well,” Hermione said, she let Fleur go and stood up. Fleur found herself missing the contact. “I like my friends who keep their promises.” She helped Fleur up and they slowly started their way back towards the castle.

“And…?” Fleur urged the girl to continue. She wasn’t sure were this was going, unless…

“Harry told me, about last night at the ball.” Hermione said. _Oh_ , Fleur just hoped she wasn’t mad about how she handled the situation. “Thank you” the girl took Fleur’s hand as she said this. “I’m not sure how I would have reacted if it were me listening to _Ronald_ saying those things about me.”

“I just wanted you to enjoy the night” Fleur tightened her grip on the other girl’s hand, “You deserved it. And I was going to apologize… eventually.” She was planning on doing it the next time she saw the boy, once everything had calmed down.

“Better do it now before anything else happens” Hermione mused. “Besides, I’ve already seen your carriage, so I thought I could show you Gryffindors common room. I’m sure Harry is there with Ron right now.”

“Okay” Fleur said, “lead the way.”

—

“I’ve been in this school for months and just barely started getting the hang of these stairs” Fleur pouted as they went through yet another staircase and waited for the moving ones to settle before moving on.

“I got the hang of it after my second year, before I got petrified that is.” Hermione admitted.

“What?!” Fleur asked, grabbing Hermione by the shoulders and turning her around. “You could have died! You were so young! What else happened that year? I want to know everything”

“I’m sure you heard about the basilisk that year.” Said the Gryffindor.

“Yes, and basilisks kill on sight, Hermione, _how the hell_ did you manage not to die?” Fleur knew that whatever happened then, it was in the past. And that, with Hermione being friends with Harry, she was meant to be in more life-threatening situations in the future. But she couldn’t help but worry.

“Well, I was looking for it, but I was using a mirror so I didn’t have to really look at it” they made it through another set of stairs, “and that’s basically it.” They kept walking through the halls of the castle.

“You mean to tell me” Fleur huffed, “that you, a 12-year-old, went _actively looking_ for a _basilisk_ on your own?”

They stopped. Hermione turned to look at her “Fleur, you are competing in a deadly wizard tournament. Do not lecture me about safety right now.”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t make her angry.” A woman’s voice called behind Fleur.

Fleur turned to find herself face to face with the portrait of a woman, she was looking at her with a knowing smile.

“Who’s this, a new friend?” The woman asked.

Hermione ignored her, “Banana fritters” she said instead.

“Alright, come on in.” the lady said as the portrait swung open like a door. Fleur felt herself being dragged by Hermione as they made their way inside.

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there, how have you been? did you have a nice holiday?  
> I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while, I sort of lost my writting voice for a moment there.  
> But I am not abandoning this story.  
> Let me know what you think of this chapter in the comments.  
> Have a nice day/evening/night!


	17. Apologies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘there’s a lesser chance of her killing me if you’re here’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright so characters are not mine and all that

—

Fleur scanned the room; it was decorated in tones of red and gold, there was a picture of a lion by the fireplace, a couple of places to seat, and tables. Not many people were there, probably outside enjoying the holiday or something. She was glad, to be honest, even if people had gotten somewhat used to her thrall by now, she didn’t want anyone to try anything with her right now.

Hermione was dragging her towards a table with two occupants, she could see Harry sitting on the side that faced her, on the other, she spotted a particular shade of red. She only hoped her thrall could restrain its effects a little, there would not be much reason in apologizing to a charmed boy who would not listen to a word she had to say.

“’Mione, you’re back” exclaimed Harry once the two girls were close enough.

“Oi, ‘Mione, where have you been all da-“

Ron stopped mid-sentence as he turned and noticed Fleur standing there. She tried to be nonchalant about it, giving him a small wave with her free hand, the other was still being held by Hermione.

“Hi, I suppose it’s time we got introduced properly, right?” she tried to sound as friendly as possible, but she could sense Ron’s fear from where she stood, and she wasn’t an empath.

“Yeah yeah, I-“ Ron coughed as he stood, “I just remembered I have homework to do” He turned to leave but his path was blocked by Harry, who looked at him sternly.

“Seriously, Ron, homework?” Exclaimed Hermione, “Is that the best excuse you could think of?”

“I didn’t expect you to bring her here, caught me off guard” complained the redhead.

Fleur was aware of how the bushy-haired girl sometimes used her whole body as a way of communicating, she had seen it plenty of times. She had to admit it was a whole new experience to be dragged along, as her hand was still being held by the girl, she watched it being moved around while Hermione had a friendly banter with her friend. Fleur wasn’t bothered, though, she just made a note about it in her mind.

Ron was sulking, trying to think of a way out, but he was outnumbered here.

“C’mon, mate, just have a little talk and that’s it.” Said Harry, and that seemed to do it. Ron sighed and looked at Fleur again, just as she realized she had been too busy analysing Hermione’s behaviour to pay any attention to what they had been talking about. Was it important? Probably not.

Was she supposed to talk first? She was the one who had to apologize, after all. But he had said mean things about Hermione, maybe she should let him speak first, try to get him to admit what the problem really was. The silence was stretching a bit too long for her liking. She had to do something. She kept her gaze steady and looked at the boy standing in front of her, she unconsciously squeezed Hermione’s hand, and received a small squeeze in return.

Reluctantly, she let go of Hermione’s hand and offered it to Ron.

“Hello, my name’s Fleur. It’s nice to meet you.” She said, smiling. It was half sincere and half acting, she was still a little angry at him for almost ruining the night for Hermione.

“Ron Weasley, pleasure to meet you” the handshake was short but firm, and the silence seemed to swallow everything else. Fleur guessed it was up to her to get things going.

“I have some things I’d like to discuss with you” Fleur said. Ron didn’t answer, instead motioning for her to sit. She took a seat at the table, and watched as Harry went looking for another chair for himself, she looked expectantly at Hermione.

“Well, I have to go to my room and sort some stuff out, I’ll come back down later, okay?”

Fleur saddened at this, but smiled nonetheless, giving a small nod towards Hermione. The girl squeezed Fleur shoulder before moving towards some stairs. Fleur guessed those lead to the rooms. She watched closely as Ron stopped Hermione at the bottom of the stairs, he seemed a little worried, most of what they were saying Fleur couldn’t hear, but the redhead almost screamed the last part. ‘ _there’s a lesser chance of her killing me if you’re here’_ Fleur giggled, hoping no one caught her doing it. With a final _‘I won’t take long, Ronald, she’s just a girl, talk to her’_ Hermione was gone. And a redheaded boy was begrudgingly making his way back towards her.

Harry brought along a new chair and sat down, right between the two of them. Fleur though about the duality of their position. On the one side, a redhead, lion by house, Hermione’s friend for the past four years, kind of a prick; on the other side, herself, half-veela, blue uniform, has only been here for a year, kind of a bitch if she said so herself. And Harry in the middle, he was the neutral ground.

“Listen,” Fleur said, leaning forward on the table, “I came here to apologize” she sighed, best to get it over with. Ron looked at her for a second, unsure.

“Okay,” he said, “that it?” he looked twice as uncomfortable as Fleur felt.

“No,” she stated, “I want to talk to you about something” she wasn’t sure if her tone came out too harsh, or if it was just Ron who was still shaken by their previous encounter, but she didn’t give it much thought.

“About what?” he said, “can’t we just forget any of this happened?” he scratched the back of his hand and looked at Harry for support, but his friend kept quiet.

“Sure, we could do that” Fleur relented, “and the next time you feel uncomfortable about something you’ll blow up again, probably resulting in a fight with one of your friends. And the cycle will repeat until you learn how to deal with your emotions.”

“What? That’s not-“

“You got mad at Harry for being chosen for the tournament, even though he tried to explain the situation to you.”

Ron was staring intently at her, but she had been thinking about this since last night.

“You didn’t make up until he almost died at the first task”

“But he didn’t” Ron retorted. He was acting defensively.

“Yes, and I am happy for him.” Fleur said, “but then, you nagged Hermione about not having a date to the ball, and _then_ got mad at her for actually _having_ a date for the ball”

“I was just worried about how this would affect Harry in the competition-“

“I don’t trust that you would believe _for a second_ that Hermione could betray Harry to help the so-called _enemy_ as you said. You are jealous, that’s what this is about”

She could feel herself tensing, maybe this wasn’t her place to talk, but she had already started.

“Who are you to speak like that about-“ The redhead raised his tone, he was upset.

“Am I wrong, Ronald?” Fleur’s words made the boy fall silent. “Or do you expect me to assume that after being friends for _four years_ that you would even fathom the possibility of Hermione turning her back on you for some foreign student who caught her attention?”

Fleur definitely let her anger at the boy show for a second.

“Because I will surely have a problem with you is that is how you think of her”

Ron was quiet for a long moment.

“I don’t think of her like that” he said.

“Then _why_ were you saying such awful things about her, Ronald?” Fleur was not angry now, but tired. “Is that really how you treat a friend? Someone who has been there for you time and time again while you went on your crazy adventures that almost get you killed?”

She could feel Harry’s eyes on her, the boy was probably thinking the situation over in his head. She kept her attention on Ron, though. The redhead had a mix of emotions painted in his face. Finally, Fleur thought, she was making progress.

“Alright” Ron raised his palms, defeated “I’ll say it. You’re right. I was jealous.” It looked like it pained him to say it, and Fleur wondered if it was because he was finally admitting it, or because he had to do it in front of _her_.

“I don’t know much about you” she made an effort to relax her stance, she hadn’t come here to fight, “but you _are_ Hermione’s friend, and Hermione is _my_ friend. And Harry, too. I haven’t been here much but I know how much they care about you, and they _need_ you, you are important to them. So, own up to your mess of emotions and learn to talk things out before it’s too late.”

Everyone was silent for a moment. Ron was looking down at the table now.

“I guess” He started, “I can try to talk more about the things that bother me.”

“That’d be good” Harry said. It was the first time he said something, startling the other two, “we’re your friends, Ron. You can talk to us.” He looked at his friend, smiling.

“Yeah yeah” Ron scratched the back of his head, he seemed more comfortable now.

“Well, now that that’s settled” he looked at Fleur, “why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?” Fleur asked.

“Coming here, _apologizing,_ not killing me on sight” Ron said the last part smiling.

“I promised to behave” Fleur smiled, “besides, I was planning on apologizing. Hermione just gave me the chance to do it.”

“Hermione, uh,” Fleur could almost see the gears turning in Ron’s head, “and what were you two doing before coming here?”

“We were talking” Fleur was not expecting an interrogation, but if this was what she needed to do to get on Ron’s good side, she could handle it.

“About what?” Ron asked, casually.

“She wanted to know more about veelas” Fleur admitted. There was a spark in Ron’s eyes now.

“Now, I don’t know much about veelas” the redhead explained, “but I know they only share their secrets with people they care about, as in, their spouses or the ones they love”

“Interesting, so you _do_ know things” Fleur tried to change the course of the conversation.

“Don’t try to distract me” Ron told her, “am I right?”

Fleur looked at Harry, who shrugged his shoulders.

“Do you, y’know” Ron spoke again, “ _like_ Hermione?”

Fleur sighed, “yes.”

At this, Ron let out a laugh and smacked the table, his smile was bigger now, more honest. Fleur didn’t know if this was a good sign or a bad one. After all, this was her first interaction up close to the boy when he wasn’t affected by her thrall or acting like a jerk.

“Well, good for you” he said, “how’s that going, ‘Mione is pretty dense when it comes to that kind of things”

Fleur laughed; he wasn’t wrong.

“So far so good” she told him.

She was glad Ron was not scared of her anymore.

“What about you, Harry? Did you know about this?” Ron asked.

“Yeah” Harry said, “Fleur is very obvious about it” He smiled knowingly.

“I’m not _that_ obvious” Fleur protested.

“You made a flock of birds appear out of nowhere _twice,_ to scare Malfoy off.” Harry reminded her. “ _Birds_ , as in, you’re a bird.”

“Wait. That was you?” Ron asked, in awe, “that was bloody brilliant, I still remember Malfoy’s face”

They went on talking about more recent events. With Harry telling Ron about their encounter with Malfoy at breakfast, then they moved to quidditch. Fleur was listening to the boys’ chat, giving her own opinions from time to time. But she was starting to wonder about Hermione, and if she was coming back anytime soon. She was pulled out from her musing by a sudden weight on her lap, she looked down to find Crookshanks settling down on top of her.

“Hello, monsieur Crookshanks, it’s nice to see you again” she whispered at the cat.

“That _thing_ likes you?” Ron asked, surprised.

“More like he likes to use me as a bed” Fleur corrected.

“Either way, I’m impressed” Ron admitted, “he bloody hates me, I’ll tell you that”

None of them saw the figure approaching their spot.

“I’m sure you two could get along fine if you treated him nicely” Said Hermione.

“It’s not all my fault” Ron said, then muttered something under his breath that Fleur couldn’t understand.

“Everything okay, Hermione?” Harry asked.

“Yes, actually, thank you for asking” The girl said, a little out of breath. “Fleur, would you come with me for a second?”

“Sure, let me just-“

Fleur scooped up Crookshanks with both hands and stood up. “Let’s go.”

Hermione motioned Fleur to follow her, and they made their way back towards the stairs.

Just as they were getting out of ear shot, Fleur could hear Ron talking, _‘he even let’s her carry him, that dammed_ _thing’_ followed by a _‘just let it go, Ron’_. Fleur smiled to herself.

—

“You share this room with two other people?”

“Yeah, it’s not as fancy as your carriage, but it’s been my home for four years now.”

Fleur was laying on the foot of Hermione’s bed, looking up, with Crookshanks cuddled on top of her.

“I see” she said, “it has an air of, I don’t know, warmth? But the kind that keeps your heart warm, not your body.”

“Is that a sweet way of saying my room is cold?”

“Yes” Fleur admitted, “lucky me, Crookshanks is here to save me.”

She patted said cat in gratitude, who decided to lazily stretch and stand up, hopping off the veela before exiting the room.

“And now my warmth is gone” Fleur lamented.

She heard laughing, and proceeded to lift herself and sit properly on the Gryffindor’s bed so she could have a better look at her _friend_. Hermione was trying her best not to laugh.

“Are you laughing at _me_?” she asked, with mocked hurt.

“No, of course not” Hermione said. “It’s just, you’re really not the person I thought you were when I first saw you, that’s all”

“Ah, and how was that _other_ Fleur you thought I was, then?”

“I don’t know,” Hermione shrugged, “arrogant, snobbish, kind of like those girls that are always giving me a hard time about my hair and my… well, about me”

Fleur frowned, but decided not to comment. Instead she took both of the girl’s hands on her own and moved closer to her.

“Well then,” Fleur said, “aren’t you glad I’m just a silly veela girl who was too shy to ask her crush to the ball on time?” she sported a goofy smile while she said it.

Hermione blushed, “shut up” she said, “but yeah, I mean, this is... nice.”

Fleur continued to smile at the girl, and they both looked at each other in silence for a moment.

“Fleur”

“Yes?”

“Are you using my hands to warm yours up?”

“…yes.”

Hermione took her hands away from the veela, smiling as Fleur pouted at her, then stood up and moved to the trunk by her bed to look for something.

“Seriously, how are _you_ going to manage even going in the water for the second task?”

It was an easy guess, and after that day spent at the carriage both girls had an idea of what the champions would be up against during the second task.

“The cold is easy to overcome, Hermione, everything else is what bothers me”

“How so?” Hermione handed Fleur a pair of red and yellow gloves.

Fleur put on the gloves and could immediately feel the warmth of Hermione’s charm on them.

“Well, veelas are made for flying, and walking” she saw Hermione nodding, “and being _absolutely_ gorgeous, of course” the other girl stuck her tongue out and made a face. Fleur laughed.

“But we are not _meant_ to be underwater, and the water isn’t friendly with us either.”

Hermione made a curious face, but Fleur continued before she could say anything.

“It’s not the water in itself that I’m nervous about, but whoever inhabits it. I don’t think they’ll be very happy about seeing someone like _me_ down there.”

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how did you like this chapter?   
> to be honest I was pretty stuck for a while about what to do with the second task but now I have an idea and I'm working on it, hopefully it works.  
> Anyway, there's still a few chapters left before that, maybe.  
> Hope you're good


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